The deluge of events that had taken place in the usually tranquil life of Savanah Conner was all too overwhelming for her to comprehend. Panicked calls from her Dad warning Savanah about impending danger, his subsequent disappearance, mysterious queries from strange people over the phone, threats to harm her lest she obliged and then the assault the previous evening had her reeling. Nothing seemed real any longer.
She had read of such things happening in best selling thrillers, but these things had actually happened in her life. Savanah shook her head in disbelief; this could not be real, could it? The events of late had been so surreal that the line between reality and fantasy had become blurred. Life had been normal just a few weeks ago. Well, as normal as life could be with a compulsive gambler for a father. She could not remember her life without Dad rushing home from work, late as usual. He never failed to join her in front of the T.V. after his shower, a dry Beefeater Martini in hand, ready to relate the happenings of his day. Lately, Savanah was lucky to get a sentence or two out of her suddenly sullen father.
The situation really worsened after Mom left. Savanah did not blame her, life with a gambler was a rocky exsistence. Now it seemed the only time she saw him at all was if they crossed paths in the living room. The only family tradition left was her insistence that they have dinner together when he was in town. Savanah was grateful he honored her wishes, it was all she had left of her once stable family life.
Savanah's Dad was her all time hero. She pictured his handsome face. He was strong yet graceful and the most brillant man she'd ever known. She smiled when she thought of his talent at short-stop, not to mention his uncanny ability to hit the baseball out of the park. He could have been a pro baseball player, but it was his genius that drove him to success. His mind was one in a million. He had excelled in University and landed a coveted position in the High Security Defense Research Lab. A job that suited his temperament very well. He was a serious man with a highly logical mind set and the ability to work well under pressure. Savanah had noticed he had become more engrossed in his work than ever before and she wondered if it was his way of forgetting his one and only vice, gambling and bookies. Her father had never seen a ball game on which he didn't need to place a bet, and a rather substantial one at that.
Savanah knew his gambling had pushed her Mama out of their lives. Dad had used work as an excuse to avoid coming home, but he wasn't fooling either her mother or Savanah. Between his constant need to gamble and his using work as a place to hide, the rift between her parents grew wider and wider. She found it difficult to take sides, she was their daughter and she loved them both dearly. When she was a youngster, she idolized adults; Mom and Dad, aunts and uncles, police officers and even shopkeepers. They all seemed so perfect, always making the right choices, so confident and self assured, to Savanah they seemed infallible in their respective roles. As she grew and matured she realized that they were just human, but she still had trouble understanding their inability to get along. Why couldn't her parents resolve their differences? It may not be easy, but it certainly was possible. They had just given up and when her Mom had left so abruptly, it left a deep mark on Savanah's soul.
While she tried to come to terms with the shambles that was her parents formerly solid marriage, the rest of her life had turned topsy-turvy like a glider spinning out of control into an irrecoverable tail-spin. Savannah was no longer in charge. An invisible force seemed to take control of her life and the choices that confronted her were no longer Savanah's to make. The feeling was terrifying to say the least, after all she had killed a man. The chance of arrest and conviction were a grave possibility regardless of the reason she'd acted so rashly. Savanah was absolutely sure of one thing; she had to find her Dad and ascertain the truth about what had happened.
What in the name of all things holy had he dragged her in to this time? Where was he? Why hadn't he called over the last few days? She shuddered as she imagined the worst case scenario; was her beloved Dad even alive? Savanah quickly shook off such negative thoughts, 'He had to be alive, no, no, he had to be fine or else...' She could not bring herself to picture her fate without her Dad to help her, she needed him to swoop in and save her life. That's what hero's did, was it not? No matter what had transpired, her Dad was still her hero. He would not let her down.
Savanah knew if she told Mac or any of his crew that she was fleeing a crime scene in which she was the prime suspect, they would surely hand her over to the police. No, if nothing else, Savanah was a surviver and this situation was no different. She needed a story and she needed one fast ...
written by Raj Shekhar Mehta
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