Wake Up Δ Walker

chapter twenty-one

Janie walks into the house and goes for the kitchen, but stops when Stella hisses her name.

"Janie." Stella motions her over to the piano where her and August are.

"What?" Janie asks. Stella just waves her over. Janie walks over, sighing. "Why do you have the winner hat?"

"Something's wrong." Stella states making Janie's blood run cold.

While the three siblings sit at the piano and Stella tells them about her worries, Bonham gets back, him and Abilene talking about the Davidsons.

"Do you remember when the boys were little?" Janie hears her grandmother ask. "And they'd... they'd go off to school or camp... and, at first, there was always this worry. You know, just a moment where they weren't sure if they wanted to go. They say they'd miss us, and they'd never say they were scared, but I'd have to remind them of the invisible string. How it connected us, and I told them all they had to do was tug on it, and I'd know. I'd just know."

+++

"Hey." Captain James greets.

"Hey. Cavalry's here." Cassie says. "How can we help, huh? Zhuzh some flowers? Rum some punch? I can DJ upon request."

"She was a motivational dancer at bar mitzvahs, if that helps." James says.

"Hey, I never told you that." Cassie says.

"Deep background checks, Perez. Very thorough." James says.

"You're quiet." Cassie notes. Trey and Liam walk in through the back door.

"Gentlemen." James greets.

"Hey." Cassie nods.

"What, this-this is how you dress for a party?" James asks.

"Hey, I tried calling you, Cap." Trey says.

"What's up?" James asks as the siblings walk into the kitchen.

"There's not gonna be a party, so can we all just stop pretending like there is?" Stella asks. "Dad's missing."

"What?" James asks.

"We lost him on the trail." Liam says.

"I told you this wasn't over." Cassie says.

"That's a leap, Perez." James tells her.

"Yeah, I say let's take it." Cassie says. "We busted Fenton, and he was so scared of whatever we were getting close to, he killed himself. Then we're shot up, and then Miles is shipped off to WITSEC. I need to call Miles."

"I need us to take this into the other room." James says.

"No." Stella objects. "Talking about it in private is only gonna make us all assume the worst, and we're already used to that. Captain."

~ ~ ~

"All right, we're heading to HQ, set the BOLOs up statewide." James states.

"Cap, I just talked to the mayor's office. They're putting together a team." Cassie says. Janie walks past her and sits on the chair sideways, her legs dangling over the side and she plays with her rings.

"You know what? We're gonna need a unit out here." James says. "Trey. You in?"

"As a ranger?" Trey asks and the captain nods. "Yes, sir."

"Okay. You can't badge up in the next five minutes -- it's gonna be process -- but what you can do is set up a base camp here at the ranch. Head up the search."