Blissfully ignorant

Carson isn't happy, but finally nods in surrender. "Alright... he can stay up here. But one wrong move and he goes back down." He moves to sink into a nearby chair, to rest and now to keep watch on Alec.

Alec watches Carson and Misty interact for a moment, giving Carson a sly look. "So... she's the one in charge, eh?"

"Shut up," Carson growls.

Alec almost laughs. "Big, bad Carson... being told what to do by a woman. If I ever get out of here, that'll be the story to tell."

Carson bristles, straightening to glare at his brother. "Enough, Alec."

"Whatcha gonna do?" Alec taunts, keeping his voice low. "Doctor's orders for me to take it easy. You can't touch me."

Carson's anger flares up in his eyes. He had enough confusing emotions pertaining to Alec the way it was, without him being mocked on top of it. Getting to his feet, he ignores Misty's request, yanking Alec off the table and starting to drag him to the door. "You're going back down."

"No!" Alec fights against him. "Misty said I should stay!"

"Well, Misty's not in charge, now is she?!" Carson gives Alec a shove toward the hallway. "Walk or be dragged, it's up to you."

Alec spins around, standing tall to meet Carson eye-to-eye. "Just try."

"Fine." Carson manhandles Alec through the door with no mercy.

Alec trips over the door frame and stumbles, only to still be shoved forward. "Ouch!" he wails, holding his injured hand. "Take it easy!"

"Taking it easy on you means not killing you. Now move!"

"You can't do this!" Alec raises his voice. "It's prisoner brutality! Stop!"

His wails echo down the hall and suddenly a new voice interrupts. "Carson!" Reese barks. "What are you doing?"

Carson stops. Unbelievable. He keeps one hand tight on his captive. "I'm taking this guy back down the holding cell."

"What's he doing out in the first place?"

"Long story."

Alec squirms, purposely balling his hand into a tight fist, then snapping his fingers open to stretch his palm. The pain was excruciating as he could feel the stitches tear. "I'm hurt!" he complains to Reese. "I'm supposed to stay up here!" The bandage on his hand has quickly become crimson, noticeable to Reese.

"Carson, he's still bleeding!" Reese reprimands. "Get him back in there, for crying out loud. What are you thinking?"

Carson just stands for a moment, irritated but with no recourse. "Fine." He whips Alec around and gives him a swift shove back into the infirmary. Alec trips, landing hard against a table and just making his hand worse.

Giving a glare over his shoulder, Alec catches Carson's eye, a faint grin ever-so-slight. And only then does Carson realize that he'd just been played. But as he steps forward, he's stopped by Reese's hand to his chest.

Reese shakes his head in warning. "I'll bring Hal to watch him."

"So what am I supposed to do?" Carson throws up his hands.

"How about take a break?" Reese suggests calmly. "We have refreshments to the left and a spare room to the right. Your pick."

Carson is seething. He looks back in the infirmary, accidentally catching Misty's eye. He didn't mean to glare at her, but it slipped. Looking down quickly, he knows that staying here would just cause more trouble. He turns back to Reese. "Have Jason or Nate call me if they need me. I'm going home."

Spinning on his heel, he heads down the hall.

Seeing him leave, Alec relaxes, though it's not easy with as much pain as his hand was in again. But it had been worth it.


Ryder's eyes continue to be wide with confusion and a bit of irritation towards a few of the things Nate had said. But before he can even respond, Nate is gone again, following after Jason.

Sighing, he shakes his head and turns around to trudge to the corner of the living room where he kept some of his things. He needed to get something on his feet, find his badge and go to TJY with or without Nate and Jason. He didn't care whether Nate was okay with him helping or not - he was helping and that was that.


Jason is squatting near a small spot in the road, fingering the oily spot. "Yeah... oil." He looks up to Nate. It was obvious that he was connecting this vehicle to the one that had been in the park. It was also obvious that it was a long shot, but it was all they had. "We've got a license number. I bet whoever took Katie wanted to make a clean sweep and probably thought they'd take out both Ryder and Laura."

He stands up, wiping his hand on his jeans. "We should get back to TJY and have Scott trace this plate number. Ryder can make sure the cops get what they need from this scene."


Laura hits the speed dial for Nate's number as she drives down the road. Reese had told her to get some rest and come back in a couple hours. Getting Nate's voicemail, she leaves a short message. "It's me. I'm headed to your place. Con and Jamie are still working and I didn't want to be at their place alone. I'll check on Maggie while I'm there - Rick said Janet would help me bed down for a few hours. I'll see you in a while. If you need me sooner, give me a call."


Gage sits at the computer in the dimly-lit room. He turns his head only slightly as the other thug comes back from the chamber, then concentrates on his work again. His face told that he was too young to be here... but innocence had already been lost. Twenty-four years, under the influence of the Agency from birth - he hadn't had a chance.

"The family is still clueless," he informs. "Traced calls going in to the ranch and as far as I can tell, they don't know about the girl yet."

He motions to his monitor. "The fathers are blissfully ignorant as well. Would have been easy enough to just snatch 'em ourselves and I told Medridge that this morning. But he still wants to keep things spiced up with the girl. 'Watch 'em squirm' is what he said."

He shrugs, not really caring. "That's the latest if you want to report it."