Instant Connection

21

Stella steps off the plane and hails a cab. She hasn't spoken to anyone at the house since the night before she left. She hadn't turned her phone on throughout her duration in D.C., not wanting to face the music of her quick departure in the early hours of the morning.

She was anxious to get back to California, but now that she was here she wished she wasn't. She feared what her roommates would say when she walked through that door. What would Johnny say? Would he even talk to her? Would he continue to ignore her? Would he yell at her? And eventually she has to ask him about the letters Cunningham had sent.

She walks through the door of the large house to find the entire ground floor deserted.

"Hello?" she calls out. She sets her bags down and jogs down to the phone room, seeing it empty as well. She grabs her bags and walks upstairs, hearing just unsettling silence. After placing her bags in her room she goes back downstairs to wait.

"Wait. Okay, so Jakes got brought in for what?" Johnny says, walking in first with Charlie, Briggs and Mike all behind him.

"He didn't say." Charlie responds as they walk further into the house.

"Is he okay?" I ask.

They all stop and turn to face me as I still stood stairs.

"Oh, shit. Stella." Charlie says, coming over to hug me.

"Hi." I smile, wrapping my arms around her, "Now, what's going on?"

"Shit hit the fan." Briggs states.

I followed Charlie down the stairs and into the kitchen where the others now stood.

"Paige isn't answering her phone. All right, I'm gonna call and see if I can get whatever calvary to go look for her." Mike says, scrolling through his phone.

"No, Warren, you're not." Briggs states.

"Like hell I'm not."

"Now, look, D.J. had to have Paige wired, right?"

"The receiver's in the truck." Johnny says, springing into action.

"Me and Charlie will get the truck." Briggs says.

"I'll go." Mike says, turning to leave.

"You're too hot, Mike."

He turns back around to Briggs, "Of course I'm hot. Briggs, do you understand what this could mean?"

"You're not thinking, okay? Charlie and I will get the truck. Johnny, Stella, do you want to go get D.J. out of lockup?"

"On it." he says, heading up the stairs.

"I'm going too." Mike says, following after us.

"Someone can tell me what I missed on the way." I shrug, following them.

"So, that's all I miss? Just Paige going missing, the assistant director comes in, Carlito almost kills Johnny again, Jakes gets brought in and apparently there was a mole in the sting to catch Carlito?" I ask.

"Yep, pretty much." Mike nods.

"Remind me to never leave again."

"Yo, I'll go in and get Jakes." Johnny says, parking the car.

"I'll go too." Mike says, unbuckling his seat belt.

"No, no, no. Briggs said you're too hot. We'll wait in the back, man." I say, placing my hand on his shoulder.

Johnny nods and jogs over to the front doors.

"So, what happened between you two this time?" Mike asks, as he climbs out.