Irritated

Hearing a woman's voice then glancing down out of the window, Eric is a little surprised. He'd expected a male officer for some reason. He sighs and reaches down his information without a word. He could try any number of tactics at this point, but looking at her... He looks in his side mirror to see her walking back to her car. No... there was an air about her that said she was not one for playing games. Great. Another score for his run of luck.

It seemed like he waited an eternity until the officer returned but unfortunately, it didn't look like this little visit was over. He can't believe what he's hearing. He wouldn't fight his speeding ticket but this... this was ridiculous and it only served to rile him even more. Apart from speeding, being dead tired was the only thing he was guilty of. Whether this officer was no-nonsense or not, he wasn't going to take this one lying down. "Are you nuts?"

Staring at her, he sees she's dead serious which just fuels his irritation. "I ain't had a drop of alcohol for a week, lady." Fuming, he slides down out of his cab and slams the door. His hat was still tilted back on his head and he sets his hands on his hips, his shirt half tucked in in the front around his belt buckle. "I've about had it with you dang women," he grumbles. "Every one of you tryin' to pull a fast one on me and now you get to do it while hiding behind your shiny little badge."

Spinning around, he glares down at her with several inches of height advantage. "You want me to touch my nose? Walk a straight line?" He stands on one leg and puts his arms out to the side to prove his balance. "Better make it quick, 'cause I ain't got all day."


Still unsure what was going on, Jason tries to keep track of Katie, forcing his eyes to open a little wider, even though they protested. "But what..." He gives up as she goes and gets Rick. He was so confused and still a little scared.

Startled by Katie's voice, Rick jumps and looks at her groggily for a moment until her words register. Once he realizes what she'd just said, he's on his feet in an instant, rubbing his face and trying to wake up. He follows her back into the other room to see that Jason was indeed awake. He smiles a broad smile of relief. "Well, Hotshot... welcome back." He approaches the bed and starts to check Jason's vitals once again. "How are you feeling?"

Jason shows something like a smirk. "You can guess if you want," he muses weakly.

Rick chuckles. "Rest easy. You've been through a lot."

"I have?"

"Mm-hmm." Rick sits on the edge of the bed. "Do you remember anything?"

Jason tries to think, but ends up shaking his head.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"Um..." Jason furrows his brow and glance over at Katie as if trying to find the answer. "I was... visiting my mom." There, that was it. "I... I told her about Trey and then... then I went to bed." He looks back to Rick. "Am I still in Texas?"

"You are."

"Then what are you doing here?"

Rick chuckles again. "You gave us all quite a fright. You've been asleep for a couple days."

Jason's eyebrows rise. "I... really? What... how?"

"Well, we're not sure." Rick was careful, but he wasn't going to lie. "You had a pretty severe attack. They got you here to Angel's office from your mom's, then they called me."

"Am I... am I okay?"

"You're awake, and that's something to be thankful for." Rick pats his arm. "Are you in any pain?"

"I hurt all over," Jason admits. "Feel weird like I got trampled by a herd of horses or something." He moves a little bit and winces. "Did I wrench my knee again?"

Rick furrows his brow and moves down to Jason's left knee to take a look at it. "Not that I know of." He pokes and prods. "That hurt?"

Jason would have whacked him had he been within range, but he just grits his teeth instead. "Yeah."

"Hmm. Well, for now, I just want you to rest real easy, okay?"

Jason wanted answers, but he could tell that Rick was pondering something. "Aw... I wanted to go out for a day-long hike."

Rick grins, glad to see Jason still had a sense of humor. "As long as I can come with you. For now though, I'm going to go see if I can bring back something for you to eat and drink so we can get your energy back. I'll bring you something for that pain, too." He stands up and nods to Katie. He'd leave them alone for a short while.

Once the door is closed, Jason slowly turns his head back to Katie. Something told him that this experience had been one of the worst. And as always, he felt badly. This time though, he couldn't help it that some of his own fear had begun to form. He'd always just brushed off these attacks, but lately... and after this one... it was hard to deny that something was wrong. "Why can't I feel you, Katie? What happened?"


Carson breathes a sigh of relief as Misty comes out of the bedroom. His hands go to her shoulders and gives them a little squeeze. "I'm glad you're okay. Someone stole my car. Alec to be more precise." He holds up the watch. Irritation laces his tone. "He's good... better than I thought if he didn't even wake you up."

Sidling past her and entering the bedroom, he goes for the closet to find a clean shirt. "He is in way over his head to be messing with me. I'm gonna need a ride to TJY when you go to work. I want to go to Reese with this one in case it's bigger than a prank..."


"...No. Since it was Alec, I figured it would be better to come to you rather than the police." Carson drops Alec's watch on Reese's desk. He'd long since checked on Dani then asked her to take care of the restaurant with Thirteen and Aerith and to call Herb if they needed his help. He'd also called Wyatt and asked him to go check on things at the restaurant too in case Alec was up to something. Maybe he was paranoid but he'd rather be safe than sorry.

Reese sighs and picks up the watch, studying it in his hand. "No note? No sign of anything?"

"Not a thing. He got into my house, turned off the security system, took my keys then took my car. He's not answering his phone either."

"Have you checked his place?"

"No. He could just be playing a prank he thinks is funny, but if not, I didn't want to go to his place alone."

Reese nods. "Wise choice." He stands up and takes a sidearm out of his desk drawer. "I got time. I want to see to this myself." He was the one who had set Alec free - he felt responsible for anything that would happen. "You carrying?"

Carson's pistol was hidden under his jacket and he nods. "Lets just hope that he was stupid enough to want a joyride and that's all there is to it."

"Let's hope." But Reese wasn't convinced. Alec had been very quiet as far as the law went. He'd played by the rules and had stirred up no trouble since being set loose. An immature act like stealing his brother's car for a joyride didn't fit his profile.

Arriving at the apartment, Carson and Reese both note that Carson's car is not present, but Alec's motorcycle is. They proceed with caution, carefully going up the stairs and to Alec's door. They knock first, in case he was home, but when there's no answer, Reese goes for the doorknob. Surprisingly, it was not locked.

Both enter slowly, but a quick scan proves that the apartment was indeed empty. Reese sighs and sets his hands on his hips, looking around the living room. "Well... if he went for a joyride, he's still out there."

"Hey." Carson points to the kitchen table. "What's he got there?" Going for a closer look, he shakes his head. "I don't think it was a joyride, Reese."

"Oh?" Reese comes up beside him and stares down at the items that looked as though they'd been tossed here haphazardly. Alec's cell phone. The gold chain he always wore. A deck of playing cards. And a note in his scribbled handwriting, that simply said, Freedom. "What do you make of all this?"

"I'm... not sure."

Reese looks to Carson uneasily. "You think it's Agency, don't you?"

Carson's jaw muscles work off his tension as he tries to ignore the uneasy feeling in his gut. "That would be my first guess." He picks up Alec's phone and fiddles with it a moment, guessing correctly at the password numbers to access the voice mail. A message from Eli... from Ryan... from Ryan... from... He listens intently for a moment, then looks back to Reese. "Okay, we really do have a problem now."

"What is it?"

"A man's voice, telling Alec he's going to meet up with Yvette."

"Familiar to you?"

"The only Yvette I know of is Yvette Lentz - level four Agency scum with an itchy trigger finger."

Reese frowns and looks at the items on the table again. "So it is pointing towards the Agency."

"I should have known." Carson shakes his head. "I never did trust him. Do you know how much Elite information he's got? The damage he could do?"

"Well let's hope there's a better explanation. There are plenty of women named Yvette - maybe it's something work-related. And maybe now he just decided to leave town... start somewhere fresh."

"And steal my car? And leave his phone? And the necklace his girlfriend gave him?"

"Yeah, okay. But-"

"It's gotta be the Agency. Why else would he steal my car?"

"Well but why would he make it so obvious?"

"It's the perfect mockery and sign that he's in control. And isn't that what he wanted all along? Freedom by way of his own control?" Carson leans on the table, battling with a strange and sudden inner doubt. "It all fits," he reasons. "He laid low for long enough that we'd leave him alone, and then picked the right time to slip out under our radar."

Reese is still wishing there was some other answer. "He was doing so well. And I know he and that McKade woman were really close."

"Maybe he took her with him."

Reese looks up quickly. "Grab this stuff. We're going over to her apartment..."


"...Aw, come on." Eli hung up the phone again with a growl. He looked to his sister with a withering glance. "Even on your boyfriend's days off, he's late." The three of them plus Scarlet were supposed to spend the whole day at the lake but so far, Alec was forty-five minutes late meeting them at the apartment. "Smart man - doesn't answer his phone when he knows he's late."

He looks at Ryan again. "He did say he'd meet us here, right? I mean, we're not sitting around here for nothing, are we? I gotta call Scarlet for the tenth time to let her know we're still going and I say if Alec doesn't show up in another ten minutes, he can just miss out. This is-"

A knock at the door interrupts Eli and he rolls his eyes. "That better be him." Going to the door, he opens it up, his mouth open, ready to scold Alec. But it's not Alec he comes face-to-face with. "Reese? And...Carson, right?"

Reese nods. "Can we come in?" He and Carson had already noticed that the car wasn't here either.

"Uh, yeah, sure." Eli opens the door and throws a wary look over his shoulder to Ryan. "Something we can help you with?"

"I hope so." Reese nods. "Have you seen Alec today?"

Eli lifts his eyebrows. "No, actually. He was supposed to be here close to an hour ago and we can't seem to get a hold of him. Why? Is he in some sort of trouble?"

"He may be." Reese hesitates, unsure of what to say.

Carson felt as though they were being made to look like fools - something an Agency agent would love to see happen... something the Agency was very good at. But something seemed off kilter. Something wasn't quite right about this whole thing. He shakes his head, once again letting the feeling pass. "He is in trouble," he states flatly.

Reese sighs. He didn't like it, but he couldn't deny the clues that were piling up. He looks between Eli and Ryan. "We believe he may have gone back to the Agency. Do you know of anyone named Yvette?"

Eli folds his arms, his muscles tightening. "No. Why do you think he went back to the Agency?"

"It seems he stole Carson's car this morning and..." Reese motions to Carson.

Carson reaches in his pockets and holds out Alec's phone and the gold chain, particularly looking to Ryan. "We found these on his kitchen table, along with this." He adds the note of freedom. "And seeing as though he didn't show up here when he was supposed to... it doesn't look like he's planning on coming back."


"Tomorrow..." Susanne glances over her shoulder at Chuck, a response on her lips until she hears his next remark. "You realize if you keep saying that, I'll come to expect it all the time." Maybe teasing was the only way to try and hide her reddened cheeks.

Looking back at him though, something about the quiet scene sent Susanne's heart racing again. He thought she was pretty? He himself was drop-dead gorgeous. Realizing her train of thought, she bites her lip and looks back out at the pond before a quiet giggle slips out. She was sitting alongside a moonlit pond with a total hunk. Now who in their right mind would say no to that?

"Tomorrow sounds lovely," she finally answers.

Rising, she brushes off her pants and takes a few leisurely steps closer to the water and just stands watching. It was hard to see much detail in the dark, but the moonlight traced everything in a soft silver glow. "If I'm dreaming, I don't ever want to wake up," she breathes softly.