Jurassic: The New World

Chapter Six

Owen couldn't sleep, so he sat on the cabin porch and stared at his lock screen. He had taken a photo of him with Maisie and Claire two weeks into their new arrangement. They were all happy, smiling broadly after Maisie's first trip to McDonald's. She'd loved the ridiculous little plastic toy she got in her happy meal. It still sat on the ledge beside her bed.

Where was she? When they finally found who took her, Owen knew he wouldn't be able to rein himself in. He was going to kill whoever took his daughter away.

Sitting at home felt so wrong. There was nothing they could be doing out in the world, but getting to be in bed when Maisie was who knows where? Owen hated that this was their life. He had to put an end to it.

While Claire tossed and turned in their bed inside the trailer, Owen made a note in his phone. It was rough, but it was a plan.

At six in the morning, after falling asleep on the unfinished wood of the cabin porch, Owen pulled splinters from his clothes and returned to the trailer. Claire was already up making coffee in their miniscule kitchen. One of the most important things in the cabin, aside from separate bedrooms for them and Maisie, was a large kitchen. Some of Lockwood's dirty money would go towards the best appliances.

"Did you sleep outside?" Claire asked.

Owen kissed her cheek. "Not on purpose."

"You know the Compsognathus could devour you as a midnight snack."

"I tossed some chicken breasts to occupy them."

Claire rolled her eyes. "You need to be more careful."

"I'm fine, Claire. See?"

Owen spun so Claire could inspect his body. Aside from wood stuck in his flannel pajama bottoms, he appeared unscathed.

"I'm just saying, I don't want anything to happen to you..."

He kissed her lips this time. "I love you."

"I love you, too." She sipped her coffee. "What were you doing out there, anyway?"

Owen held up his phone. "I made a plan. Two plans, actually. One that we'll actually follow and one we'll tell InGen about when they call."

A soft knock on the door interrupted them. Owen checked out the window to find Karen and the boys waiting to be let in.

"Good, you're up," Karen said. "We couldn't sleep, so we came by to help."

Owen and Claire had wanted to start the search alone since they knew Blue wouldn't be where she was last spotted. After the T-Rex incident, they were glad they made that choice.

"How did it go yesterday? Any sign of Blue?" Zack asked.

Owen and Claire shared a look. "No," Owen told him. "We did meet the T-Rex. And her baby."

Karen spit her coffee over the linoleum floor. "Her baby?"

Claire rubbed her sister's back. "He had a tracker. It belonged to Biosyn. With the help of Dr. Grant and the Navy, we sent the baby and the adult to Sorna."

"Oh, thank God," she said. "One less thing to worry about."

If only an ocean's worth of distance was enough for Claire to stop worrying about the T-Rex.