Hey guys, sorry I have not been able to update lately. My schedule has left very little time for writing and I hit a writer's block on where I wanted to see the story go. A friend gave me an idea and I have decided to re-publish Off Radar with a slightly different twist to what I was previously aiming for and I hope you all like it as well.
**Riley Neal, Gabriel Vaughn, Lillian Strand, Shenandoah and Nelson Cassidy, as well as the concept for Intelligence all belong to CBS. I own nothing.**
Flashbacks are in Italics
When Riley looked at her cell phone that was laying on the table with a missed call notification, she became concerned. The missed call was from Lillian Strand, whom Riley had not spoken too for almost five years. What Riley couldn't figure out was why Lillian would be calling her considering she didn't have her cell phone number...
Earlier that day, Gabriel Vaughn had left his daughter playing inside his house while he and Riley Neal had been trying to put together a play set that caused Gabriel to release a long string of colorful words that caused Riley to laugh. What neither of them had realized was that Lilliana Cassandra Vaughn, Gabriel's daughter, had Riley's phone within reach and was having a fun time hitting all of the on-screen buttons. She was surprised when she hit a combination of buttons and a voice spoke from the phone.
"Lillian Strand speaking. Who is this?" Lillian asked concerned as she never got calls from unregistered numbers on her cell. She was even more surprised when a voice that couldn't belong to someone over the age of three spoke.
"My name Lillian too." The little girl said with a squeal. "Actually it Lilliana." She said with a giggle.
"Lilliana, can you tell me how you called me?" Lillian asked hoping to work with the young girl.
"My mommy or daddy's phone, but no tell. I get trouble if they know." There was a pause before Lillian heard small sniffles. "Mommy gonna be mad and daddy no happy at me." The young girl said as she started to cry.
"Sweetie, Lilliana, I won't tell your parents that you called me if you can do something for me."
"What?" Lilliana asked with a quiver in her voice.
"Can you tell me what your mommy and daddy's names are?"
"Uh... Mommy and daddy are mommy and daddy."
"Do you know what people call them?" Lillian asked knowing she wouldn't get far.
"Uh...uh... I think people call daddy Ga..gab.. Umm.. I think it Gabiol." This caused Lillian to laugh as Lilliana tried to work through her father's name.
"Sweetie, is your daddy's name Gabriel?"
"Umm.. Yeah." Lilliana said before she heard another voice.
"Lil, where are you? I have something for you." Gabriel said as he came in and Lilliana hit more buttons and the call dropped, but not before Lillian thought she heard her former agent, Gabriel Vaughn...
When the call dropped Lillian brought the number to Dr. Shenandoah Cassidy who had his son run the number.
"Lilly, may I ask why we are running a number? This is not typically our department."
"Let's say that I just had a very interesting conversation and I think it may have just help us find at least Gabriel."
"Who was on the phone and isn't your number almost in contactable?"
"Unless you have the number you cannot reach my cellphone. It was a little girl, no more than three by the sounds of it. I am guessing that she was playing with her parent's cell phone because she got upset and was talking about being in trouble for playing with the phone."
"How does this relate to it being Gabriel?" Instead of answering Dr. Cassidy, Lillian turned to Nelson.
"While we are waiting for information on the number, would you be able to pull up the last call on my cellphone and play the call?"
"Uh, I think so. Is there a certain part that you want?"
"Give me the last minute of the call and single out the background noise." Lillian said as she watched Nelson enter her phone via computer and bring up her call log.
"Here you go. Last call, last minute." Nelson said before the three heard the quiet voice of a young little girl.
"Daddy Ga..gab.. Umm I think it Gabiol." The little girl struggled to say and Lillian responded with a laugh before she spoke.
"Sweetie, is your daddy's name Gabriel?"
"Umm.. Yeah." Lilliana said before the three in the lab heard a male speak.
"Lil, where are you? I have something for you." Next thing they knew the call dropped and Nelson played the last few seconds again before they all looked at each other.
"Well, that confirms what I thought about finding Gabriel."
"Hold up. Did that little girl say her father's name was Gabriel, shortly before he spoke?" Nelson asked trying to comprehend what he had heard.
"It appears that Gabriel finally got the family he was searching for with Amelia. Did the little girl say anything about whether there was a mother in the picture?" Dr. Cassidy asked, wanting his unofficial son to be happy with his life.
"Yes she did. She just said that her mom would be mad if she found out her daughter was using either her or Gabriel's phone." It was then that Nelson spoke up.
"I got a hit for the phone's number. It is registered under the last name Vaughn, but... Holy shit, I knew it." Nelson exclaimed after seeing the name listed for the cell phone.
"Care to share what is causing your excitement Nelson?" Lillian dark along with Dr. Cassidy, even though he and Lillian had an idea of what he was excited for.
"The number is registered to a Riley Vaughn. Did the little girl tell you her name?"
"She said Lilliana and I am guessing the last name is Vaughn. Do a search Nelson."
He entered the name into their database and quickly got a hit.
"I've got a hit for a birth certificate from a small city in Iowa, of all places. There is a little girl by the name of Lilliana Cassandra Vaughn who is going on four as of next month and her parents are listed as Gabriel Vaughn and Riley Neal-Vaughn." Nelson said pausing to let the news sink in. "Not sure I can picture Riley as a mom though."
"If Gabriel was not with her, I would agree with you Nelson. Well I guess we were right Shenandoah." Lillian said with a smile.
"Wait, you knew Dad?" Nelson asked, shocked his dad wouldn't tell him.
"Lillian and I had our suspicions that they would end up together."
"Nelson, after what Riley and Gabriel went together on their missions and when Gabriel was shot by Tetazoo's men, we began to expect this. When your life is on the line you form this bond with your partner and that is the reason that many duos get only one or two missions before being re-partnered. The agency avoids partnering two agents that are male and female to avoid a relationship forming."
"Then why did Gabriel..."
"Gabriel and Riley stayed partnered because that was the first person that Gabriel did not try to one up or feel the need to protect over his own life. We honestly did not expect that a relationship would form."
Let me know what you think and if I should continue in this new direction.