Accusation

Alec gives a slight nod as Thirteen walks away, then retreats to his own cot. Strange. He felt like he'd seen her somewhere before. But not here. She didn't seem to be the brightest crayon in the box, that was for sure. And why she was with that dog of Jason's, he didn't know. He shrugs. It wasn't his concern.

Flopping down on the cot, he begins to count. Twelve steps to the door, six down the hall, thirty to go up. The girl ought to be back up stairs right about... now. He glances at the watch, newly affixed to his wrist and he grins.

Trooper senses Thirteen's fear, and bravely leads the way back to the main level, leaving behind the scent he'd been following. Once upstairs, the sound of a shutting door makes him tense, and he growls again, but his priority is to get Thirteen back to her room.

Back again, the dog seems to be dropping her off as he pauses at the room's door, then takes off at a trot down the hall to the main floor. The door at the far end that led to the elevator to go up to the exit was just closing. He gives a little woof and sniffs the air. Whoever had been there was gone now. Heaving a sigh, he goes back to join Thirteen at the room again.

After turning a couple circles, he settles down on his normal spot, but his eyes stay open and his ears alert.


The tray of breakfast food clatters to the floor. The intercom is pressed and Hal's concerned voice comes over Reese's phone. "Alec's gone."

"What?!" Reese stands from his desk where he'd just sat down for the morning. "What do you mean?"

"I mean he's gone. The cell was open and its empty."

"He can't have gone far. Sweep the building."


Rapid footsteps come towards the spare room and the door is flung open without a knock. Reese's jaw is tight and he stares down at Thirteen and Trooper, the light from the hall shining in. "Trooper, come."

The dog gives something like a groan and doesn't move from Thirteens' side where she'd laid on the floor.

"Trooper!" Reese orders. "Come!"

Trooper looks to Thirteen then back to Reese again and sniffs the air.

"Dang dog," Reese mutters. "Should have been on duty, but you're babysitting instead. Get out here!" Still not receiving obedience, Reese steps into the room, half-ignoring Thirteen. "Sorry," he apologizes gruffly. "But the dog's got work to do."

Reaching for Trooper's collar, the dog suddenly gets to his feet and dares to show his teeth to Reese.

Reese retreats quickly and points to the door. "Move! Or you're fired!"

Giving a grunt of annoyance, Trooper finally trots out of the room. Reese follows after with no explanation, simply closing the door again. He points down the hall to Hal. "Go with him."

Yawning, Trooper lazily aims for Hal with no intention of paying head to the urgency in Reese's tone. Reese rolls his eyes. It would be faster for Hal to do the searching himself. Of all possibilities, why did they have to end up with a dog that would only take orders from one person? They needed Jason back. But he hadn't had the heart to tell him so.

Hal and Trooper head downstairs where the search begins. Reese aims back for the main floor, pausing only a moment at one of the offices. "Dalton, give me security camera feed from last night. Send it to my computer." Stalking to his office again, he kicks himself for allowing a window of time in the building. With Ty still on suspension with cut hours, there was a window of about half an hour between when most took off for the night, and when Hal and/or Ty showed up for janitorial work. But regardless, how had Alec gotten out of the cell?

Back at his desk, the footage is already there. Dalton was fast and efficient, and for that, Reese was grateful. He starts the tape and watches. It isn't long before he finds what makes his blood boil. He picks up the phone. Getting an answering machine makes him even madder. "Ryder!" he barks. "You better be on your way down here!"


...Ryder and Reese's arguing voices clutter the hall as they approach the spare room.

"There's no way!"

"You saw the tape!"

"I don't care, it's-"

"I told you that we couldn't have-"

"But it doesn't prove anyth-"

"It does so! I warned you about this!"

The doorknob is gripped, but Ryder pauses to knock and waits a couple seconds before entering. His eyes find Thirteen's, his gaze confused and apologetic. "Good morning, Thirteen," he greets softly. " He knew she probably hadn't been up very long at all and hated to intrude like this. "Reese has some questions -"

"That's putting it mildly," Reese snaps. His arms are folded and he looks sternly at Thirteen. "I want to know why you let Alec out and where he's planning on going. And don't try to deny it. The cameras caught you in the lower level last night."