Sickening job

Jason is relieved that Dalton agrees to help. The tech guy seemed less than sociable, a little too cocky, and distrusting to boot. But at least he was willing to help them out with this one. "Thanks, Dalton."

Jason and Katie head back to his office, working some, though too anxious about Dalton's work. Finally hearing from him, Jason gives a start, all ears. 'That's awesome, Dalton."

Yeah... it is something... At the very least, we might get a track on the Agency if they're the ones that hacked us. If not then...we've still done TJY a favor, Scott or no Scott, and Reese can't be too displeased with us for that.

"We'll be right in to take a look."

Jason nods to Katie. "Alright, let's go see what he's got."

Making sure she comes with him, Jason heads to Dalton's office once again. This time he knocks before entering, showing a little more respect. Once inside, he shuts the door again, ensuring that no one else is listening. "Okay..." He moves around the desk to see what Dalton has found. His eyebrows raise. "Washington state? That's interesting."

He sighs and straightens, folding his arms across his chest. "So they might be located there...and they hacked our system...whoever it is." He starts to pace, his mind reeling. "It has to be Agency related, whether it's Scott or not. Because if it is him, then it's obviously got something to do with the Agency. And if it's not him, they're just toying with our heads. But..."

Jason pauses, turning to look at Katie and Dalton again. "If it was the Agency trying to toy with us, I can almost guarantee that we got the location wrong...though I'd be surprised they'd let us find a location at all. That's not like them."

He bites his lip, his emotions starting to rage again.

It's got to be Scott...anything else just doesn't make sense.

"I say we start doing a little more digging. Dalton, keep on doing your thing... Keep it quiet, so do your other work first, but keep digging on the side. Katie, I want you to go file hunting and find the last time this system was hacked into. I know it's been done by the Agency at least once before... I want to know what happened that time, and if it was similar to this... We might be able to narrow down motives that way. And me... I've got someone to call who may know that area of Washington and might have some information they don't even know they have."

Jason stops again, looking between Katie and Dalton. "Keep low for now... If we find anything substantial, we go to Reese. For now I say keep quiet just because he didn't initiate this. No one's going to lose their jobs." He eyes Dalton on purpose. "And if Reese questions you, dump it back on me. He'll give me heck but he won't do anything drastic." He quirks a crooked grin. "Every once in a while someone does something around here that's not quite...on record. Reese isn't a bad guy."

Jason paces a moment more, then halts at the door. "Alright. I say we get back to work then."


Carson grins as Jess lets him in, returning her kiss. "Mm...getting greeted like that, it's always good to see you too." A chuckle escapes and he taps her chin with a knuckle. "How could I forget about you?"

Coming farther into her house, he sets the box down on the kitchen counter and turns around in time to catch Jess by the waist, spinning her around to face him. "I made your favorite just for you. I woulda brought a milkshake but...it would've melted next to the pizza."


Cyclone refuses to stop, clinching the bit in his teeth and arching his neck, barging against the pressure. A curse slips out under Mick's breath as he tries to bring the half-running, half-bucking horse under control.

The gelding refuses to heed, worse than the days before, paying no attention to his rider's commands. Totally out of control, Cyclone charges, straight for the fence.

With no time to bail, Mick hears the sickening crack of fence rails being ripped apart. He tries to pull Cyclone's head up, but it's too late. Horse and rider go down.

The next few seconds are a blur. Mick can feel the weight of the horse coming down on his leg, and a shooting pain goes down his arm.

Then...silence.

Mick tries to catch his breath, squinting through the dust. He coughs, wincing as his ribs move. Trying to right himself, his mind clears enough for him to realize that his leg is pinned underneath Cyclone, and they're both in a heap on the other side of the fence, broken rails and all.

Straining though it hurts, Mick manages to somehow wriggle out from under the horse and rubs his knee gingerly, though nothing appears to be broken. Blood oozes from a gash in his forearm, received from a splintered rail. But his concentration is quickly diverted to the horse.

Moving around to the other side, Mick kneels by the sweaty, heavily-breathing animal. A lump rises in his throat as he sees the mangled leg. Pulling off his gloves, he wipes the sweat from his brow, then lays a hand on Cyclone's neck. The horse wasn't going anywhere.

Mick stands, putting his gloves in his back pocket and turns to walk back across the corral. He favors his right leg, and ignores his throbbing ribs and bleeding shoulder.

"Mick! You alright?" Jeff comes running up to him, worry in his eyes. "What happened."

Mick shakes his head and keeps walking. "I'll be fine. Just...don't let anyone back here."

Jeff stops though Mick keeps walking, and looks ahead to where the horse was. A sickening feeling rises in his stomach.

Mick gets to the house and climbs the porch with a hardness in his stare. He was about to do what he hated the most, and all emotion had to be ignored to be able to do it. Dirty and bloody himself, he enters the house, going straight for the closet. He sees Rosetta, but says nothing, reaching above the coats to retrieve his rifle. Grabbing his ammunition, he loads it with skill.

Taking the gun in one hand, he finally looks to Rosetta. "Keep BJ in the house until I come back."