(A Sanctuary Crew Convo)
“Thoughts?” Matt asked the others.
Doc shrugged his shoulders. “No prospect, no family, nowhere to go, chip on his shoulder. I’d say Donovan checks all the boxes.”
“Except he wasn’t entirely truthful,” Heff said. “There’s something he’s not telling us.”
“Such as?” Mad Dog asked.
“I think he knows more about who he’s looking for than he’s letting on.”
“Can’t really blame him though,” Cage said. “He doesn’t know us. Why would he reveal more than necessary? Whatever it is, I don’t think it involves us directly. I believe that he didn’t know about Sanctuary prior to his layover in Atlanta.”
“Blessing working her woo-woo again,” Matt muttered.
“Never discount good woo-woo.” Heff smirked. “But it wouldn’t hurt to know more about where he was and what he’s been doing since he got out.”
“Easy enough to find out,” Nick said. “It’s nearly impossible to stay completely off the grid these days. There will be footprints. We could pull flight manifests, credit history, things like that, get a road map.”
“That’ll take a hell of a lot longer than an hour,” Doc said.
“Not if I give our friends in Pine Ridge a call.”
The guys grunted in agreement.
“Speaking of our friends in Pine Ridge,” Heff began, his expression thoughtful, “did our newest arrival seem oddly … familiar … to you?”
“You mean the black hair, blue eyes, fighter’s build, and Irish heritage?” Mad Dog asked with a curl to his lips. “Yeah, when I first saw the guy, I thought it was one of them.”
“Lots of people fit that description,” Matt said with a lift of his broad shoulders. “Doesn’t mean anything.”
“True enough,” agreed Doc. “But … I don’t know. If he thinks he might have family in the area …”
“Him? A Callaghan? I don’t think so.” Smoke snorted. “They’re as tight-knit a family as I’ve ever seen. Not likely they’d lose one of their own.”
“Smoke’s right,” Mad Dog agreed, shaking his head. “And Donovan is ten years younger than the youngest Callaghan, easy.”
“Could be an illegitimate son,” Heff said thoughtfully, receiving a series of muttering denials in response. “It happens. Guy loses his wife, spends more than a decade and a half mourning her. Gets lonely.”
“Not to Jack Callaghan,” Matt said firmly.
“What about the oldest son, Kane?” Heff mused. “He could’ve gotten careless before he shipped off to the Navy. Happened to that guy in Birch Falls … what’s his name? Dylan Grant. He came home after fifteen years and found out he had a teenage son.”
“Yeah, it happens, but not to the Callaghans,” Matt reiterated.
“Could be a different branch though, right?” Mad Dog said. “Any family tree that prolific is bound to have a few.”
“Well, since I’m going to call Ian anyway, let’s get him or Jake up here and see what they think. We could be totally off base,” Nick said.
“We probably are,” Heff agreed, looking somewhat disappointed. “But it would be a hell of a plot twist, wouldn’t it?”˙
