Love is Always Write Anthology Bonus Volume

that routine was helpful for people recovering from trauma. Sebastian cracked his back as he stood and grabbed Daren's notebook. As the water boiled for coffee, Sebastian opened it to one of the back pages where he wrote the word SCHEDULE at the top. On the first line he wrote 0700 – S. Breakfast/Coffee. On the next was 0730 – D. Wakeup. Morning Medication. Vitals Check. 0745 – D. Breakfast.
    From the other room he heard a harsh whimper and cry. He turned off the boiling water and headed for the bedroom.
    So much for a schedule .
    ****
    Sebastian fished a Hot Pocket from the microwave, doing his best not to burn his fingers. He could cook a little and knew he should be eating some real food, but that would mean driving farther out than the drug store.
    Despite the rough night, Daren had managed a pretty good day, sleeping peacefully through most of it. Sebastian had even found himself with enough down time to start working through the stack of National Geographic s that a former resident had left piled in a closet. He now knew all about Sicilian mummies and endangered Amazon river dolphins.
    Blowing on his Hot Pocket, he flopped onto the couch and flicked on the late news. It had been a while since he'd checked the state of the world. Not that he thought it had changed much. The opening story was about two politicians in some local race who made eerily similar gaffes on the same day, just proving that politicians were politicians, no matter the party. The second story was about job cuts. The third story was about Gerald Delaware. Sebastian sat bolt upright. Gerald Delaware was famous for being a rich party boy, and the next in line of the Delaware dynasty. And he'd been missing for nearly a week. The story had some file footage of Gerald Delaware stumbling out of clubs while under age, surrounded by his entourage and paparazzi. The police had no clues or leads, and the Delaware family was putting up sizable money for the safe return of dear Gerald. This slid into a side note about a scandal a few months earlier when a Delaware cousin raped a maid, and the footage ended up on the internet after the maid had been deported. There was a second side note that there was now a public investigation into the Delaware family concerning fiscal discrepancies. The next story was about the President.
    Sebastian stared at the TV, not really seeing or hearing whatever the next few stories were. He knew his mouth was hanging open like an idiot while his brain tried to process what he'd just seen.
    He flicked off the TV and headed to the bedroom. In just the light from the hall, he examined Daren's features. Now that the swelling was going down and the bruises were shifting from dark blue to lighter green, Sebastian could recognize the face as one he'd seen on the pages of tabloids and Celebrities Behaving Badly reports. A face he'd never paid attention to.
    It did explain why Daren was so alien to the concept of being poor. It also completely rewrote the list of people who might want to kill him. Anyone his old and stupidly rich family pissed off. Any number of organized crime or extremist groups who figured they could make a quick buck kidnapping a very rich kid. The family of that maid, if they thought he had something to do with it. His own family, if enough money was involved.
    Suddenly Daren cried out and took half a swing at something that wasn't there. Sebastian ran to his side. "Wake up." He gave Daren a small shake. "You're having a bad dream. You're safe; wake up." Daren's eyes snapped open and he looked around. "It's just me, you're still here." Daren took a couple of big gulps of air. Sebastian stroked his head. "Want to talk about it?" Daren shook his head. "Okay. Try to go back to sleep." Daren nodded and closed his eyes. Sebastian waited until Daren's breathing became steady and slow.
    Out in the living room he fired up his laptop. YouTube had plenty of videos of Gerald Delaware being a drunken idiot. And while Daren's face was still messed up, the voice was there and recognizable. Wikipedia had the Delaware family tree with Daren being the first and only grandson of the current Delaware patriarch and in the direct line of inheritance, as it were.
    Some conspiracy websites had the Delawares responsible for secretly running the country. Legitimate sources had the Delawares not-so-secretly running the country. It was almost three a.m. when he found, buried deep in a chain of related articles, a mention of an Agent