Locked and loaded

*Wes holds tights to Cindy's hand.*

*Angel looks to Luke.* "There gonna be ok right?"

*Damien stands.* "I'd like to go too. If I could. I could serve as a distraction seeing as they know who I am. I dont know if they think I am on what side but, I might be of some use. Unless you think staying here would be better for me? "

*Katie stands and grabs her coat and her baseball cap.* "Anything alse I need?" *Katie grabs her phone and laptop.*

*Rosetta looks to Mick and smiles. Going to the cabnet in the courner she grabs out some objects. Mick hands him his old gun, as she tucks her own away.* "They have been waiting. Lets do this. Katie you still have the gun Angel gave you?"

*Katie opens her coat alittle showing the gun.* "Yep."

We're going

Austin swallows hard. Up until now, he’s done well with not allowing his emotions to get tied up in this whole thing, but right about now, he’s tired and at his weakest. He can’t imagine what’s been happening to Jason, or what will happen if they don’t get to him in time.
He looks into Katie’s eyes for a moment, with the same stare as Jason…one that can penetrate the deepest of hearts. He knows she’s right. “Alright. I trust your judgment and I agree.”

He picks up the phone one more time. “Yeah, it’s me again. Listen, we’re going to head to Myersville too. No, don’t call off Lukas. Keep him there and have him call my cell phone if he finds anything. We’ll be on the road.” Hanging up, he turns around to Rosetta. “We’re going to Myersville. We don’t have enough time to sit around until we’re a hundred percent sure of his location.”

Austin glances around the room, realizing that now others are listening to him as well. “I know all of you would probably volunteer to help, but in a situation like this, we can’t risk everyone going in at once. They get wind of an invasion, Jason’s life will be the first we lose.” He stops for just a moment, swallowing his fear. “I’d like myself, Con and Katie to go in one vehicle, and…..Mick and Rosetta in another.” He looks at both of them, the past reflecting in his eyes. How this is so much the same, yet so different than over eighteen years ago. “How ‘bout it?”

Mick looks up quickly to Rosetta, more than willing, but wanting her to be okay with it too.


Cindy giggles and shakes her head. “Is there anything you don’t know how to do?” Her grin remains, even though she becomes more solemn. “You distract a woman so well…” She turns as Austin begins to talk, her tension returning.

*Katie nods to Austin.* " I dont know why but, ya I do." *Katie sits back in the chair holding her flower. Katie feels calm. Silent, the tast of blood, the bruses, he pain. Fear, but not for thereself but for the people he loves.* "Jason is calm. He hasent told them anything. He's beaten up pritty bad but he is alive." *Katie opens her eyes and looks around the room to where Cindy is. Lowing her voice she leans closer to Con and Austin.* " I hope Lukas can cover both buildings fast. We dont have much time left till....till they dont need him anymore. It will take us 3 hours to get to Myersville. I think it would be a good idea to start out now just in case. At this point time is very important and we dont have any to lose."

*Wes trys his best to joke around and keep Cindy's mind off everything.* " And than...." *Wes puts his hand behind her ear and pulls out a penny.* "WALA...You my dear have money in your ears." *Wes beams.*

*Rosetta goes over to the table with Austin, Con and Katie.* "So...now what?"

Feelings

Clint obliges and goes to get Wendy some coffee.

Austin sets down his coffee and immediately picks up the phone, not even questioning Katie as to how she knows the flower was from Jason. “Yeah, Reese? Get Lukas over to Myersville. Hmm? No, we got a lead. There’s…” He leans over to see Katie’s computer screen. “…two possibilities there. Have Lukas scout them out and call us back immediately with ANYthing out of the ordinary.” He ends his call and takes a deep breath, glancing to Katie. “This has got to be it…I didn’t think they’d go that far with him, but they had to have.” Austin looks at her inquisitively, pausing his thoughts for just a moment as if getting stuck on one in particular. “So…you’ve always been able to sense when something is wrong with Jason…what…I mean…do you feel anything now?”



“I told you he’s not gonna talk!”

A crook rolls his eyes at his partner. “You’ve been at him all night! How much more time do you need? We have to get this thing over with. You know those people at that ranch aren’t stupid. They’ll be out looking for him.”

The other grits his teeth. “Look, I’m doing all I can, short of cutting the kids throat. Maybe we should just take him in to headquarters.”

“No! You know we don’t do that. There’s too much risk for security breach. We get him to talk here or not at all.”

“Well how much time we got?”

“Until tomorrow night. If he doesn’t talk by then, we’ll kill him and move on.”

I know where

*Wendy smiles and yawns pulling her cold arms into her sweater.* " Sure. thank you."

*Katie turns and heads back inside holding the rose. Turning to Austin she reply.* " I....I know where Jason is. Or at least the area. He in Myersville around Reynolds Boutique. He must of ran new he couldent get away, but was smart enough to send a clue." *Katie goes to one of the computers doing a search.* "There are 2 building around there, one was an old wairhouse that has been closed for 3 years, and the other is a condemed house." *Katie looks to Austin.*

Boutique

Clint grins and nods. “Yep. Feels like it’s been a week though.” He nods towards the kitchen. “Want me to get you some coffee?”

Cindy looks down. “Me too…”

The delivery man turns around, halfway back to his truck. “Yeah, it’s Reynolds Boutique over in Myersville. Usually don’t make deliveries this far out, but whoever left the payment left enough to cover the gas.” He tips his hat. “Have a good day!”

By now, Austin is on his feet, hearing only half the conversation, and he waits expectantly for Katie to return.

Flower

*Wendy opens her eyes slowly looking up at Clint.* " Is it morning already?"

*Wes nods.* "I'm glad I am able to be here for you."

*Katie steps out from behind the door. Rosetta hands Katie the Rose.* "Katie this is for you. But I dont know who its from." *Rosetta looks at her with question."

*Katie steps out the door as the dilivery guys starts to walk away. Katie yells.* "Excuse me, I dident know there was a flowershop around here. Can you tell me what the name of your shop is please?"

Delivery

Con thanks Katie gratefully for the coffee as he tries to gain a second wind.

Cindy blushes slightly and puts her hair behind her ears. “Well…thank you, Wes. I…I don’t know how…I mean….you’ve been a great help to me.”

Clint types one-handed on the computer, not moving his one arm, lest he wake Wendy. He glances down at her thoughtfully for several moments, reflecting on what’s changed since he arrived here.

The young delivery man smiles broadly. “Hey, good morning. Hope I didn’t wake you folks, but this was the first stop on my route, being so far from town.” He takes his long box and opens it to withdraw a delicately wrapped single rose. He grins as he hands it over. “This is for a…” he squints at his order sheet. “Katie Pent.” His eyes twinkle with mischief. “No note though – must be a secret admirer. Enjoy.”

Hello?

*Wendy lays asleep her head on Clint's shoulder. She is tuckerd out its been a long day.*

*Rosetta is snuggled up in her chair with a blacket passed out.*

*Wes is on the coutch with Cindy keep her as much company as he can. As she wakes her smiles down at her.* " You would do no such thing. I dident mind at all."

*Katie gets up and gets 3 cups of coffee for Con, Austin and herself. Siting back down she sips her coffee*

*Rosetta wakes with a start as the door bell rings. Katie stands a bit in case anyone came back for round 2. Opening the door Rosetta greets the delivery man.*

*Katie slowly stands behind the door watching through the crack.*

The search continues

Several people have fallen asleep at the tables, including Luke, his head resting on his hands over printouts he’d been going through for hours.

Clint stares at his computer, his eyes feeling heavy, though he tries to get a second wind as morning is upon them.

Austin takes the papers from Katie with a nod. “Thanks. And yeah…” He offers a smile. “Coffee sounds awfully good right about now.” He glances around the room as it stirs quietly, and he lifts up yet another silent prayer for Jason.

More calls from Reese come in, confirming that nothing has been found. No criminal reports taking place, no leads from local jails…absolutely nothing to go on. And no ransom calls. Which meant it wouldn’t matter to the Agency if they killed Jason off, but Austin did not voice those thoughts.

The morning begins to wear on as the sun rises. The business around the ranch increases as some of the gang comes and goes, cleaning up for the start of the day, or those who had slept, return to begin helping out again.

Eight o’clock.

Cindy stirs in Wes’ arms, having long since fallen asleep without realization of where she was. Finally awake, she blinks, slowly becoming aware of where she is, sitting up, she looks quickly up at Wes. “Oh…I’m sorry…” She rubs her eyes wearily. “I should have moved…”

A delivery vehicle pulls up to the mess hall and someone gets out with a small parcel. The young man reaches the porch and rings the door bell.

Thinking

*Damien nods to Mick.*"Well I dont plane on running away so maybe we can find more info and go from there."

*Katie hopes on the computer and starts to look up buildings where Jason might be. After pulling a bunch of leads Katie hands the paper to Austin.*

*Wes hold Cindy for the rest of the evning.* " Its ok hun."


*As the clock hits 4am Katie gets up and streches her legs.* "Hey Austin you want any coffee or anything?" *She is tired but already took an hour nap and dosent want to sleep another wink. Katie's mind wonders to where Jason is. She hopes Jason knows she is thinking of him and they are trying to find him.*

Hours drag on

Mick gives Damien a wry grin. “I thought maybe that was the case. Unfortunately, we don’t have any way to tell…the rest of us pretty much figured it out on our own, but we knew who had the chips. The only other way would probably be to have an x-ray, but we don’t have that equipment here.” He shakes his head. “I wouldn’t want to go cutting into you though, without being sure.”


Austin retrieves the notepad from Katie, and nods thoughtfully. “It was busy at the mall…lots of noise…prime time for someone to pull off a nabbing. It wouldn’t be worth our time to try to track anyone down who might have seen or heard anything. Most likely there would be no witnesses.” He grabs a folded map of the surrounding towns and hands it to her. “Here. Check out these downs on the internet and mark down any that have places that have gone out of business, or where noted abandoned buildings might be. My guess is that the Agency wouldn’t take Jason far, but I could be wrong.”


Cindy finally regains a small amount of control, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’m…I’m sorry, Wes. I just…fall to pieces when I think about…not seeing him again.” Another tear escapes. “But you’re right….” She takes as deep breath and glances over to Austin. “He found him once…he can find him again…” She nestles her head against Wes’ chest, not even caring about properness. “I knew when I let Jason go to TJY that there would be hard times…but nothing can ever prepare a mother for this…”


As the evening drags on, Austin gets more people involved in making calls to local authorities and hospitals in case Jason had shown up anywhere else, and going through Agency files.

Some of the women prepare a late supper of soup and sandwiches for everyone, though few take a break while eating. By three in the morning, some have wandered to bed, while most have remained up. Austin has more equipment, brought from Con, as he desperately tries to pinpoint the likeliest thugs from the Agency who might have pulled off the nabbing, while also trying to figure out the most likely place they would have taken Jason. Reese calls back with the news that the two TJY men have found nothing yet, but are sweeping the area as requested. By four o’clock, everyone is weary.

Remembering

*Wes sits down by the fireplace with Cindy rubbing her back and holding her.* "Don't worry they will. They will. Jason is Katies most trusted friend, and Austins flesh and blood they wont let anything bad happen to them ok." *Wes thinks for a moment. How many times in the army did he see familys cry cuz there loved ones never came home. How many times did he hold, Mothers, Fathers, Wifes, Sisters as they cryed, and yet this time it seems to hurt even more to see Cindy crying in his arms.* " We have to be strong ok. That what Jason would want. We need to help all we can and we cant do that if we arnt thinking and using our heads right." *Wes moves his hand to Cindys face and whipes her tears away. Wes looks Cindy in the eyes.* "Jason knows you love him, and he knows we will do everything to look for him. God will watch over Jason and he will help us to be strong." *Wes smiles at Cindy.* "It's gonna be ok."

*Damien gives a grin to Mick and rolls up his shirt arms, bearing many scars.* " I have many battle scars Mick. I dont think this is gonna be easy. Do we have anything saying where the chips might be?" *Damien sighs.* "And yes I know I probley was a primetarget. If we dont know where the chips are in our bodys do we have a way of finding out?"

*Katie follows Austin to the far table and sits down. A soft grin forms on Katies face as she listen to Reese. Taking a pen closes her eyes to remember and starts to write down everything. The sounds: Baby crying, Mother yelling at a child, Teens chattering, Footsteps, long hard footsteps. Katie dosent remember hearing them before. Keeping her eyes closed she keeps reaching back deep into her mind. Footsteps moving faster, a thud like someone hiting the floor. The sound of a back door opening. A balloon poping, kids screaming, 2 people fighting. Jasno dident feel go. He said he felt sick after he had something to eat. Katie keeps writing as her memories come. After a long moment Katie puts the pen down and hands it to Austin.* " Its all I can remember." *Katie hands the paper to Austin.*

*Rosetta looks to Jeff confused.* "What....why?"

The work starts

Con eyes Austin skeptically. “You think letting Katie help is a good idea?”

“Would I have said yes if I didn’t?”

“No, but…she hasn’t had training with us or anything.” Con glances at Katie, then back to Austin. “I love her spunk, but is that enough?”

Austin folds his arms across his chest. “If there was ever a case I’d want her on, it’s this one. She’s like a bloodhound when it comes to Jason, and that might just come in handy.”

Con relents without argument. “Alright. We need to get a hold of Reese, let him know what’s going on, and get a couple more men sweeping the area.”

“Agreed.” Austin glances at the clock. It’s past suppertime already, but there will be no rest. “It’s gonna be a long night.” He turns to Katie. “Come out in the other room with me and help me set up a corner where we can work. In any kidnapping case, time is of the essence.”

Cindy barely hears what’s going on around her, and numbly follows Wes out to a chair to sit down, the tears still flowing. “I just…can’t believe it……he’s…he’s all I have, Wes…. We have to find him…we just have to!”


Mick lifts an eyebrow at Damien and briefly explains about the computer chips. “None of us knew we had ‘em in us either until I discovered mine and went digging for more information.” He nods to him. “I’m only asking this because of that that person said on the phone that you heard. But do you have any strange scars or anything like that?”

There is a brief interruption as the others come back into the room, obviously with bad news. Mick stops his questioning and looks up at Austin, wondering what’s going on. The room goes quiet.

Austin shakes his head grimly. “Please be on heightened alert, if you’re not already after this fiasco. Jason, Katie and Adam were at the mall some hours ago and Jason disappeared. We believe he’s been kidnapped.”

Several gasps can be heard. Jade’s eyes widen and her face pales slightly. “Who would do such a thing?”

“Our best guess is the Agency, though we can’t prove it. If any strange calls come in, if anyone hears or sees anything suspicious at all, please, please report it to me.” Austin takes a deep breath to remain in control of himself. “Speaking as an agent and not as a grandfather, my guess would be that if it’s the Agency who did this, that they took Jason to interrogate him. But as we all know….when desperate men either are finished with what they have, or don’t get what they want, there’s a very real danger of someone losing their life.”

Clint exchanges a surprised look with Wendy, not even sure how to react. A new awkwardness comes over the room as no one is quite sure what to do now.

Austin points to the far corner of the mess hall away from the gathering. “Katie and I will be setting up there and I will be in touch with TJY.”

Jeff raises an eyebrow. “Katie?” He looks at his niece, then at Austin again.

Austin nods, making eye contact with him and with Rosetta. “She’s unofficially part of the TJY team for this case.”

He goes to line up a couple tables in the corner, moves a computer over, hooks up several connections, borrows a phone and is finally as set up as he can hope for. “Con, I want you to go out to the hideout and find out why on earth no one knew we had intruders here tonight, and inform the others about Jason. Bring back some of the surveillance equipment and my laptop.”

Con nods and leaves to do as instructed.

Austin gestures to a chair for Katie and hands her a notepad and pencil. “I want you to write down every single detail you can remember about the mall incident. Every sight and every sound that you can think up.” He settles down with a file folder full of criminal profiles and at the same time, dials a number on the speaker phone. The other end picks up.

“Yeah, this is Reese.”

“Austin here.”

“Oh, Austin, hi. I was going to…”

“They’ve got Jason, Reese.”

Reese seems stunned. “What?”

Austin eyes his files as he talks. “He got nabbed at the mall today. I need a couple men to get down there and sweep the area – just a five-mile radius to start. Check out anything suspicious…abandoned buildings and the like. Also run a search on the local jail and see who’s been let out in the last week.”

“You got it.” Reese sounds as if he’s writing things down. “How did it happen?”

“We’re not sure. He was separated from his friends and just disappeared. His watch was left behind…it was obviously foul play.”

“Aw, great. Do you think he’s still alive?”

Austin pauses in his work, gritting his teeth. “Logic says that for the moment, yes.”

“Think they’ll interrogate him?”

“Yep.”

“I hope he can last ‘til we find him.”

Austin sighs. “Me too.”

There’s a slight pause as it seems Reese suddenly realizes he’s talking to Jason’s grandfather. “We’ll find him, Austin. I’ll have Plowman and Lukas out within the hour. You got anyone to help you there?”

Austin nods, though Reese can’t see him. “I still got my three men, and…” He glances to Katie. “I got a keen young woman on my side too.”

“That wouldn’t be Kit, or Kathy, or…”

“Katie?”

“Yeah, Katie. Is that who it is?”

Austin can’t help a slight grin, knowing that Reese is unaware he’s on a speaker phone. “Yep.”

“Ah, okay. Jason called me just a few days ago…left a message saying if I ever wanted to train a new sharpshooter to look her up.”

Austin smirks at the phone and looks to Katie again. “That renegade of mine when right over my head with that request.” He shakes his head, focusing back on Reese. “Look, I’ll be working on my end. Call me if you dig anything up. I’ll keep you informed.”

“Right. Will be in touch.”

Austin ends the call, hanging up the phone and going back to his files.


While all that is going on, Mick tries to turn his concentration back to Damien. “This whole thing gets bigger and bigger all the time. You can see why we’re all confused and leery of anyone anymore. So about my questions…just because you were with the Agency doesn’t make you immune to their use or betrayal. Come to think of it, you’d be a prime target for a chip…because they wouldn’t think we’d have anything to do with you.”


Any sense of time seems to have vanished. Jason’s muscles complain against the position he’s been forced into, but he cannot move. The basement is cool and damp, the smell of mold filtering through the air. It’s a scent so strong and so familiar.
Jason can still feel the fear connected with that smell…it’s like he’s in that room all over again… a captive, locked away from the world where reality begins to blur. He begins to fall into the memory, terror trying to take hold of his mind. But he fights. He can’t allow his past to control him, especially now. He has to conquer it…he has to…