what was i made for, walker

016. cameras and parties

The family are at the Side Step, having breakfast.

"All right, here's the bacon." Cordell announces, walking over to the table his family is sitting at.

"Bring it here." Bonham says.

"I have something, uh, very important to share with y'all. I'm gonna wait until... Uncle Liam gets here." Cordell tells them.

"That doesn't sound ominous." Stella jokes.

"Ooh, "ominous." Yeah. Someone's SAT prep courses are paying off." August says.

"Hey. I utilized "ominous" prior to prep." Stella objects.

"Never utilized "utilize," that's for sure." Janie remarks, earning a small shove from her sister.

"Liam, hey!" Cordell greets as his younger brother walks in.

"Hope y'all didn't wait for me to start eating." Liam says. "I already got my green juice, though." He sits down. "Luckily, Saturday is my cheat day, so..." Liam reaches for the bacon.

"Hey! Bacon isn't a cheat. It's a lifestyle." Bonham says gaining some laughter.

"So, what's the big news, big brother?" Liam asks.

"There-- there's a camera hidden in our home." Cordell announces. Janie gives her father a confused look.

"Is this like a... like a scavenger hunt?" August questions.

"Did you put in a security system?" Abilene asks.

"I don't need no stinking security system." Bonham objects.

"I don't need a scavenger hunt." Janie says.

"You brought me down here for a scavenger hunt." Liam smiles.

"Why can't people just say what they mean?" Stella asks, everybody talking over each other.

"Okay, okay, okay. Stop, stop, stop, stop." Cordell talks over them. "Stop, please. Please, please. Listen." He gets their attention. "What I'm saying is that... somebody or-or-- or somebodies, um, broke into the ranch and hid a surveillance camera. Uh, likely more than one -- in our home, to spy on us."

"When did you learn this?" Abilene asks.

"Last night. After-- after..."

"You let us sleep at home after you found a spy camera?" Stella asks. "The day I take my SATs."

"I needed to make sure you were all safe." Cordell says. "And now I'm a step ahead of whoever's watching our home, a-and I can get to the bottom of this. Plus, I have a decent idea of who is responsible."

"I hope the Davidsons are on your list of suspects." Liam says.

"The Davidsons?" Cordell asks.

"Gale Davidson stood right there. She made us out as jerks in front of the entire community at the chili cook-off last night. So it would stand to reason that she would want more dirt on us. What better way to do that than to hide cameras in our home?"

"Yeah." Cordell walks over to his brother. "Hey, Liam. Can I- can I chat with you for a sec?" The two walk off a small distance, everybody else still able to hear them a bit.

"I don't need you to add fuel to this dumpster fire of a family feud in front of my kids." Cordell tells him. "Besides, the person behind this is Serano."

"Oh, really? You know, we never found anything in his warehouse that would suggest that he's using hidden surveillance, okay? That's not his M.O., but it could be the Davidsons' M.O." Liam states.