Author's note: I have deliberately not named the
militia group. Every name I thought of was already taken in one form or another
in real life so I gave up.
Chapter Eight
Meanwhile, back at the garage, the first inkling of trouble reared its ugly
head when Drew called looking for Paige. He had dropped off Ralph at Scorpion
headquarters after school earlier that afternoon and was scheduled to pick
him up at five thirty.
"No, she's not here," said Toby, who had made a mad dash to the phone when
he heard the other man's voice on the answering machine. "She and Walter
are on a case."
"I know, she left me a message and Walter's car is still here in the parking
lot," said the ballplayer, sounding exasperated. "She said she would only
be gone a couple of hours but now it's after five o'clock."
"What's the matter?" the shrink asked sarcastically, leaning back in the
chair and putting his feet up on the desk. "Can't handle taking care of your
own kid?"
"Not that it's any of your business, but I have a meeting with some local
scouts at six," Drew announced. Toby giggled as he pictured him in a Boys
Scouts' uniform, complete with shorts, knee socks, and neck scarf as the
other man kept talking. "It's at a bar and I can't bring Ralph and I can't
get a hold of his evening sitter. She's out of town or something."
Happy, who had wandered over to listen to the conversation on the speaker
phone, chimed in. "He can stay here until she gets back. We can take care
of him. He owes me a rematch of Constructo Battle anyway."
"Thanks, I really appreciate it," Drew said before ending the call.
"Putz." Toby leaned forward, lowering his feet back to the floor. "And by
the way, the putz does have a very good point. Where are Mr O'Brien and Miss
Dineen? They should have been back by now."
"Guys." Sly's panicked voice preceded him into the room. "I think this might
have something to do with it." He turned on the television tuned to a local
news station, which was showing footage being shot from a helicopter of a
large white Spanish-looking mansion, set on a cliff overlooking the ocean.
A banner ran across the bottom of the screen, screaming the President of
the United States was being held hostage by a militia group, followed by
a list of their demands and the news at least five Secret Service agents
were dead and the rest uncounted for. It was estimated at least one hundred
members of the militia had overtaken the exclusive retreat.
Then the screen was filled with driver's license photos of Walter and Paige
while a woman's voice announced they had entered the building only moments
before it had been infiltrated by the group and their whereabouts were now
unknown.
The woman went on to say, "They claimed to be Homeland contractors and it
is now being thought they helped the militia members gain access to the retreat,
where the President had been preparing for a secret meeting with the leaders
of Canada and Mexico."
"Not good," said Happy.
"‘Claimed?' ‘Thought?'" Toby's voice dripped with disgust. "Someone's attempting
to make Walter and Paige appear to be in cahoots with these yahoos. I think
we need to call Cabe."
"Are Mom and Walter in trouble?" Ralph was staring at the TV screen where
their photos were being flashed again. Sylvester hustled over and shut it
off.
Toby got down on one knee, bringing himself at Ralph's level. "Yes, they
are." he said, knowing keeping the kid in the dark was not an option. "But
we'll do everything we can to help them."
The words had barely left his mouth when the door to the garage was thrown
open, and five people marched inside, flashing badges. "Homeland!" shouted
a male voice.
"That was quick. We didn't even get a chance to call," Sylvester noted suspiciously
as he and the others saw Cabe walk in behind the other agents.
"That's Walter's desk and that one is Paige's" Gallo said as he pointed to
the pieces of furniture in question. "O'Brien's living quarters are upstairs."
The team members gathered around him as the other agents scattered across
the garage. "What's going on?" asked Sly. "They just can't march in here
and rummage through Walter and Paige's stuff," challenged Toby. Happy added
her two cents, "How much trouble are they in?"
"They have search warrants." Cabe informed the shrink. "Homeland is investigating
a security breach. And they're in about as much trouble as I am," he announced,
addressing the other two queries.
"How are you involved?" Sylvester looked scared and confused.
"I'm under suspicion because I recommended them for the assignment. They
needed a top-notch IT guy with government clearance and I told them they
would never find anyone better than Walter." He shook his head. "And we all
know Paige is the only person who can keep him in line. I wasn't about to
turn him loose on the President by himself."
The other nodded in agreement. "They think the militia interfered with the
Wi-Fi in the area, knowing someone would be authorized to go in and fix it,"
he continued. "They needed the gate to be opened so they could get the code.
Like at that prison we were at last year."
"But why would you three be suspect?" asked Toby. "Everyone knows underlings
are never the leak They rarely are in a position to learn anything of value.
It's almost always someone higher up. Unless the underlings are disgruntled.
Are you disgruntled, Cabe?"
"I am now." He glanced as the other agents started carrying boxes of documents
out of the building.
"So how do we get them out of there?" asked Happy. "Or even find out if they're
even still in there."
"I hate to say this. . ." Sly began before Toby cut in with, "Then don't."
The human calculator pushed his glasses up his nose as he ignored the interruption,
"but the odds are 95.5% they are already dead."
"Then there's a 4.5% chance they're still alive," said Happy. "We've faced
worse odds."
"What's going on?" asked Drew as he walked inside. "They frisked me before
they would let me come in."
"What are you doing here?" Happy asked, not bothering to disguise the hostility
in her voice.
"Don't you have a meeting?" the shrink reminded the other man. "If you gotta
bounce, that's fine with us."
"Look, I know you all don't like me. I get that," the ballplayer said. "I
heard the news report on the radio. Paige is the mother of my son, and she's
in danger. And I'll do whatever I can to help. I'm staying."
Toby and Happy looked at each other, both impressed by Drew finally manning
up.
"Can you make coffee?" Cabe asked. Drew nodded. "It's going to be a long
night."
"I want to help, too," said Ralph. "What do you need me to do?"
"You can help me search the county planning department for blueprints," said
Sly. "We're looking for a place called Wildecliff Manor." He led Ralph over
to his desk, pulling Walter's empty chair over for the boy to sit on.
"Wanna help me look up intel on these loons?" Toby asked Happy, waggling
his eyebrows at her.
"You sure know how to charm a girl, Doc," she replied as she sat down at
her desk.
Toby just smiled at her for a moment before opening his laptop. "Seems to
work."
She didn't say anything but he was glad looks didn't actually kill because
he'd be a dead man. Smirking, he began typing in the name of the group holding
his friends hostage.