what was i made for, walker

046. self defense

August and Janie go downstairs, heading to the door.

"Hey!" They both turn to their father.

"Hey." August greets, Janie giving him a small wave.

"Where, uh... where you two heading off to so early?" Cordell asks.

"Oh, you said I could borrow the van, remember?" August reminds.

"You got time for breakfast, right?" Cordell asks, taking the carton of eggs and a pack of bacon out.

"I already ate." Janie says.

"Not really. I'm-- we're supposed to meet up with Stel and I have boot camp readiness. I-I really can't afford to be late to that again, so..." August says.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, yeah. Don't be." Cordell tells him. "Um, but curfew still stands: home before 5:00."

"Of course." August nods. Janie salutes her dad, biting back any smartass comments she wants to make. He wanted more family time, but he's barely present whenever they're home, always locked away in the spare room working on the Jackal case. He still has zero clue as to what's going on with any of them.

"Okay." Cordell says.

"Boot camp ends at 3:00." August says.

"Great." Cordell says.

"Hey, um, we were talking to Stel about, you know, whenever Geri gets back, if maybe you want to do, like, a... I don't know, like, a make up dinner?" August suggests. "We're game, obviously, and, uh, again, I'm really sorry about missing last week."

"No. I know. And, you know, maybe I was a bit off the mark, too." Cordell says.

"Maybe?" Janie asks. Cordell gives her a look and she raises her hands in surrender. His eyes flicker over the multiple loom bracelets covering her wrists that August made.

"Uh, thought you kids had an issue with Geri and me." Cordell says. "Uh... anyhow, uh, yeah, have a good day."

"Thank you." August grabs his bag.

"Yep." Cordell pats him on the shoulder as he walks off, Janie following her brother outside.

+++

"It only took campus security, like, five weeks to finally email me this." Stella grumbles as they watch the footage of the person who broke into her dorm.

"I mean, I'm shocked those rent-a-cops were even able to find him on the video." August says.

"Apparently, he used a stolen key card to get into my dorm." Stella says. "It lined up with the time of the break in. This is so creepy. It's like he knew where the cameras were. Like he scoped it out before or something."

They watch the guy get into Stella's room.

Stella jumps when her phone vibrates, the girl quickly recovering and picking it up.

"You okay, Stel?" August asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Stella says.

"Who's texting?" Janie asks.

"It's Witt." Stella says.

"Okay. Let's-- let's just hold on for a second. Okay? Ju... what are you gonna say to him?" August asks.

"I don't know, but... he's obviously in trouble and he needs our help." Stella says.

"And how do you expect us to help him?" August questions. "Okay? We can't even protect you from this guy who broke in."

"What are you saying, then?" Stella asks.

"I don't know, shouldn't we... shouldn't we tell dad?" August asks.