A Birth day

"I don't think Angus thought she was having a tirade," Marcus replied to Jessie. "He was just trying to pass on the information that if the paper is to be believed, you have a new half sister. I think he felt you had a right to know that. When he has a minute to think about something besides Evan, I'll tell him it's still a touchy subject with you. No problem. Thanks for looking after the kids. I'd better get back to Angus." He smiled and headed back to the duplex.

Angus had gotten a denim shirt from upstairs and a pair of slip on boat shoes. He was getting out a number of weapons. He was arming himself with not only his wand but with a number of kinds of knives, a pocket patch kit, and the magical lockpick he'd gotten from Michael. He had found a number of the exploding bubbles in a jar on the top shelf of the bookcase, and he set them out for Marcus to pack. He was looking in his desk drawer for a handful of Italian money that he remembered of tucking in there when Yulong came in.

"We don't know," Angus said to Yulong, still arming himself. "Tara contacted me by floo and said that Evan was on board on a ship that was chartered last night for a dinner cruise, and the ship blew up. Evan's missing. I'm guessing that the authorities believe he's dead. I have to go find my brother, so I'm going prepared for just about anything. Be aware that Edward doesn't know yet because he's out for the day with Simone and Caprice somewhere in Paris. I'll leave him a note to come to the charter office at the shipyard in case he comes back before I think he will. If it looks like it is going to go overnight, I'll contact you to let you know. I'll have to decide whether to bring the kids to Italy or not, but right now, there's nothing they can do so I think its better that they stay here and work."

Marcus arrived back at the duplex, and he went upstairs to pack quickly for them.

"Have you told Robert?" Marcus called.

"No," Angus called back. "Would you mention it to him please and ask him if he has any gillyweed we can take along? Oh, and make sure you pack mission wear, please?"

"Okay," Marcus replied. He opened the floo in the fireplace in the master bedroom and he reported to Robert the news from Tuscany, and Robert immediately suggested Michael to go along because of Michael's particular skillset and expertise in such cases, and Marcus said he would talk to Angus and get back with him. Robert agreed to send over some gillyweed offered any support that Angus thought he would need to find Evan and, of course, told Marcus to go with Angus and gave him a couple other instructions in order to insure that while Angus' mind was entirely on Evan, Marcus would be sure to make sure that Angus wasn't going to injure his shoulder by overdoing something. Robert made up a missions kit of sorts and sent it over. When Marcus opened it and found the gillyweed, he packaged it into small ziplock baggies that they could each pack some in their pockets. He put the rest of the kit in his duffel bag, and he brought both bags downstairs.

"Robert suggested we take Michael. He thinks this case is well within his wheelhouse. Will we need to stop at Clive's and get wetsuits?" Marcus asked.

"Michael?" Angus frowned, not having considered Michael, but then Marcus asked about wetsuits. "No," Angus said. "We'll take a yacht that is equipped with a dive platform, and the crew can load dive suits in our sizes for us while they're prepping. And if they haven't already figured out that I'd come and want to take a ship out, then they really don't know me very well at all. Yu, do you or Jessie have any scuba experience at all? Come to think about it, I don't know if Jack does either."

At the same time, Michael arrived with his duffel bag slung on his shoulder.

"I'm with Jack and Jess. Let's find Evan," Michael said.

"Thanks," Angus said. "Yu, will you guys either take care of Finn or find someone who will, please?"

"I'll go leave a note for Edward," Marcus said, hurrying over to Edward's side with a quickly scribbled note to leave him.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something," Angus said, trying to think.

"You're forgetting that if Evan is conscious, he will know that you'll come," Marcus said. "Even if he isn't sure of anything else, he'll know that, for certain, you'll come, and you'll bring help with you and we'll turn over every rock between heaven and hell to find him. That much, he'll be certain of."

Angus hadn't actually even considered that yet, but when Marcus said it, Angus nodded. Marcus was right. Evan would have hope because he would trust Angus to not ever leave him behind anywhere.

"You're right. I guess the only plan I have is to go get a ship and get to the site where the ship blew up," Angus said.

"Well, yes," Michael said, "but can we also get some basic information from the charter office, like who rented the ship. how many people were on board, names, the plan of where the ship was going, the crew manifest, all of that?"

"Certainly," Angus said. "I can get all of that when we get there while they're readying a ship for us."

"Then let's go," Marcus said. "Got more than one portkey?"

"Oh. Yeah. I do,' Angus said. He went to a wooden chest on the dresser and picked up three old keys. "I have three that go to the charter office. I'll keep one. Who wants the other two?"

"Jess, Tara will want to go out with us, I'm sure," Angus said, "but if we could get her to stay ashore and take care of Faith and Evie, that would be good for all of them to be busy. I'm sure she's frantic or just about frantic. I would be too if I were her. She's a strong woman, but she's never really had to deal with any trouble. She and Evan have always had a very quiet, routine life up til now. Not like my life at all. There's a little five star boutique hotel right next to the charter office. My thought is that if I book you their large suite there, you might be able to persuade Tara to bring the girls there and stay there so she's close to the office for any developments. That way she's not out on the ship but she's got her girls right with her and she's as close as she can be. As soon as they start prepping the ship for us, we'll have at least an hour or two before we can launch. So I'll book the suite for you and get you all settled. Thanks, Yu. We'll be in touch. Let's go, All. I'll meet you at the charter offices."

He and Marcus ported out to go to the ship offices and they found the portkey took them to a a plaza in front of some very nice old buildings along a pier. "The charter office is in there," Angus pointed to the building on the left. There was a smaller, much fancier building on the right. "That's the hotel I was talking about."

"Go on to the offices," Marcus said. "I'll book the suite." Angus fished out one of Edward's muggle credit cards from his wallet.

"Here,' Angus said. "In this part of the world, this name opens all sorts of doors, you'll find. Let me know if you have any trouble."

"Will do," Marcus nodded. Marcus headed to the hotel to book it for Tara and Jess, and Angus headed to the ship offices. When he got there, the place was bustling. He saw Tyler straight away who was trying to take charge but Tyler was a man who knew horses and stables. Ships, not so much. Angus, the ship offices knew. And he was respected here. There was almost palpable relief when Angus arrived. Tyler hurried to him.

"When's Edward coming?" Tyler asked.

"When he finds out. He and Simone were out when we got word," Angus said. "They'll have to do with me. Do they have a ship ready?"

"When Tara reached you, we knew you were coming, so I had them pick a ship for you and get a crew coming and get the ship ready to launch asap," Tyler said.

"Good. Well done."

"What else can I do? Tara's here, in Evan's office, and she's a mess."

"I sent a colleague of mine to rent a suite next door. I'll try to get her to go there, if you lot promise to keep her informed of any news."

"Yeah. I might be able to get her to do that much," Tyler said.

"Where are Faith and Evie?" Angus asked.

"I sent them out to the patisserie to bring back some pastries for breakfast," Tyler said. "I think they should be back soon."

"Send word to Rosaria to go pack a bag for each of them and bring it here. They're not going to go home until we find Evan."

"I should have thought of that," Tyler sighed.

"Just do it now," Angus said. "And have them load wetsuits and diving gear for me, and my three colleagues and all the crew. They've got my size. And I'll have them give you their sizes when they arrive. Let's move. Every minute is critical right now." Tyler nodded and disappeared.

Angus was glad that Jess just took over dealing with Tara. That was important. Tara seemed to calm almost instantly when Jess got to her, and Angus was relieved. He heard Jack talk about a wet suit in his size, and he laughed.

"Well, believe it or not, Edward told me that some big American film star who was, allegedly, even bigger than you are took our biggest ship out last summer for a cruise, and he wanted us to furnish him a wetsuit. I don't know if I've ever seen anybody that's bigger than you are, but either way, we had to have one special made for him, and its been hanging in storage since. It might be the closest we find, but, if you have to shrink it a tad, I really want to see it myself. Edward said this guy apparently won several Mr. Universe competitions before breaking into acting. I bet it'll be close enough that we can magically alter it to fit."

At that moment, Evie and Faith came in and saw Angus. They hurried to drop the box of pastries on a desk and then flew to Angus and wrapped themselves around him as if he was the only person on the planet that could bring their dad home alive.

"Where's Granddad? Why isn't he here?" Faith asked, while Evie begged Angus to find her dad and bring him home.

"Look at me," Angus said calmly and steadily to the two of them. They looked up at him. "I am not coming back without your dad. I'll find him. Granddad wasn't home when your mom called me, so he doesn't know yet, but I can promise you that the very moment he knows, he'll be coming. You know that." They nodded.

"What if he's..." Evie began.

"We don't know that," Angus said.

"But the authorities..."

"The authorities are muggles, Love," Angus said. "We're not. We can do a lot that they can't, and my friends? They can do a lot more than most wizards can. Don't you lose hope. If your dad is alive, we'll find him. We're renting a hotel suite for you right next door so that you don't have to leave but you'll have a place to stay. There'll be someone here at the office until we have this matter resolved. Trust me, okay? And look after your mom for me. Can you do that?"

Michael walked in as Angus was calming Evie and Faith. Evie had briefly met these friends of Angus before but they didn't know what Angus's friends did. Still, if Angus trusted them, Evie and Faith would too. They nodded.

"Michael, give them your wetsuit size, would you?" Angus said. "And Tyler, give Michael any and all information he asks you. Tell him everything. I'll go see Tara for just a moment." Michael went to Tyler to get all the information he could get on the ship, the itinerary, the passengers, the manifest, the cargo, all of it. Marcus came back from the hotel, and he followed Angus into Evan's office. When Tara saw Angus, she flew to him.

"You have to find him," Tara said.

"We will," Angus told her. he took a moment more to reassure her. Marcus went to Jess.

"I rented the three bedroom suite for you and Tara and the girls," Marcus told her. "And I rented another suite for Edward and Simone when they arrive. Here are the keys to both suites. They're paid for, and they'll add any charges for concierge service or for meals or anything else you need," He handed them to her. "Is there anything else you can think of that you and Tara and the girls will need?"

"I know, Jack," Angus said. "Believe me, I'm aware but it takes time to ready a ship. It isn't like I can just grab the keys and go. They've had to summon a crew. Then the crew has to load food and supplies. The ship has to be fueled up. The captain has to file a manifest and a crew roster. It takes a bit to get it all together. They're moving as fast as they can, believe me."

"Cool it, Jack," Marcus told him. "This isn't Angus's first cruise. Nor is it his first rescue mission."

"Jack," Michael looked up from the paperwork from Evan's ill-fated ship. "There might be a lead or two here, but I need more information. Use that werewolf speed of yours, would you, and nip down the block to the corner to the newsstand and get a copy of every single newspaper they have, regardless of language--especially if they have any local coverage of last night's explosion. Hurry. It could be important. Pay the newsman a bit extra and milk him for any rumors that the street might have. We're looking for information about the ship, last nights' hosts, the dinner guests, any of that. I think they're going to tell you it was a wealthy couple and their guests, but lets find out," Michael was feeling that this was not nearly as accidental as everyone was thinking it was.