"How are you, Sarah?"
"I'm doing well, and you. You look exhausted." she said worriedly.
Chris shuffled his feet and bit the inside of his lip to contain his grin.
"What?" asked Sarah, throwing her hands on her hips and raising her eyebrows.
"Nothing, it's just good to finally get to talk to you. I miss you fretting over me."
Sarah slapped his arm and Chris feigned hurt, "Who's worried about you?" she said before smiling again.
Chris tried to keep his smile up but it eventually fell. Sarah's brows furrowed.
"Is something the matter?"
"I'm just a little lost on what to do. I heard today that my father was released from prison and is on parole. He wants to see me."
Sarah was the only other person Chris told about his father besides Buck.
"What do you think you should do?" she asked.
"I don't know." he exhaled loudly, "I feel like running so hard and never look back except-"
"Except what?"
"There are these boys. They're like family to me. I already left them behind when I walked out of the program. If I keep running and I never look back, I'll lose the second best thing that has ever happened to me."
"The second?" Sarah frowned.
"Meeting you will always be the number one best thing that has ever happened to me." Chris smiled.
Sarah smiled back and playfully hit him on the shoulder to try and knock some of the awkwardness away.
"I know." she said cheekily.
Chris snorted and bowed his head.
"So now that you know your answer, what will you do?" she asked.
Chris looked up and then thought about it. He could keep running and hiding from his old man, or he could face him. Face his demon, as Josiah would call it.
"Thank you." he smiled wistfully.
She smiled and then looked back at her house.
"I better go back inside before my dad sees you."
Chris nodded.
Sarah looked him over. He was still in his uniform with the old black leather jacket on top.
It was pretty cold outside and she could see that his cheeks and nose were turning red.
She took off her scarf and wrapped it around his neck. She kissed him on the cheek and then ran back inside.
Chris watched her go in before heading back to the organization building. He kept his eyes on the ground, thinking over what he would do and say. He had a lot to say, but needed to organize it all so when the time came, he could say it right.
He touched Sarah's scarf, feeling the warmth from it. He smiled, this had to be the right way. 'The road to healing' as Josiah called it.
His footsteps stopped when he saw a car pull up beside the curb and a man got out of the driver's side.
It was like tension hit him in the face and his back became ramrod straight. His spine shivering and his breath hitched.
The man looked at him. His cool steel eyes, burrowing through Chris's as he walked over.
"Hey boy, didn't expect you to come outside to greet me."
Chris had to take a minute to gather his thoughts which were now all scrambled.
"I see you're still slow." scoffed the older Larabee.
Chris glared at him, but the only effect it had was receiving another laugh.
"Boy, I been to prison. You ain't scaring me. Your face only looks like you're pouting."
"You said you wanted to see me, why?" Chris was finally able to say in a low growl.
"I see you've been taking care of my jacket like I told you." The man pointed at the piece of clothing.
Chris was told when his father was arrested that he'd beat the mess out of him if he loses the jacket. In fear Chris would wear it all the time to keep from losing it. Eventually it became a part of him like a layer of skin. It now almost fit him.
When Chris didn't respond, his father continued, "I hear you got yourself arrested and are in some kind of kid law enforcement."
"I've been arrested before, yes. I wasn't however arrested and forced to join the organization. I chose to-"
"Well ain't that a dumbass decision."
Chris bristled and clenched his fist.
"I did it so I could stay with my friends."
"Friends" scoffed his father, "you don't have any friends. There's Buck, but he's something else. I told you that you don't need anybody else but yourself, didn't I?"
"Because of that I've been living by myself in a rundown building with other homeless people for over a year."
"And these 'friends' of yours, they're the reason you're here?"
"They're family."
His father rose his eyebrows and then laughed, "This kid. You don't even know what a family is."
Chris was tired of the constant rebuke and was ready to leave, but his father kept talking, "I'll tell you what family is. It's blood. That means you and me."
Chris wanted to say 'no, you're wrong', but he held his tongue. He turned to go back inside, but his father grabbed him by the arm.
At first Chris thought his father was going to start hitting him, but the man pushed a slip of paper in his hands before letting him go again.
"Just in case you need to get in touch. I'll let you continue playing house with your 'friends'."
Chris watched as his father got back in his car and drove off.
Buck had explained to the others that when he and Chris were little and Chris lived with his parents, Chris was real quiet.
"He is quiet still!" Nathan pointed out.
"No, quiet as in, drop a pen and he'd flinch something terrible as if he was expecting someone to hit him." Buck explained before continuing on with his story.
Chris's dad used to be in the military and when he came back he was completely different and drank a lot. He began to get abusive and started to hit his wife and then Chris. It got so bad that Chris's mom got hurt when she came down wrong after getting slapped across the face and hit her head on the edge of the coffee table. She was rushed to the hospital and was a vegetable for three months before his father pulled the plug. Chris became the center of abuse and soon child services found out from a teacher who happened to notice Chris's bruises. The boy said they were from him falling, but some were too extreme from falling off a bike or swing. His father was arrested and was sent to prison for a maximum of ten years. Chris was never the same and was bounced from foster home to foster home. Some parents would abuse him and he'd fight back, resulting in him being returned as a violent child. He was eventually placed in the Connelly household where they had a daughter. Chris really liked Sarah and she liked him. Mr Connelly didn't like bad elements hanging around his daughter and had him kicked out during winter a couple years ago. He stayed with Buck for a month before he disappeared for six weeks, only to pop up in an abandon building filled with homeless people.
"And that's the story. Tell anyone else and I'll kill you before he comes and kills me."
The others just sat there in their little circle, trying to absorb the story. JD didn't understand everything, but understood the man was bad and so was Sarah's dad.
Ezra was thinking about how he and Chris had so much in common, getting thrown into a new family one after the other. The abuse and the lies behind the bruises.
Vin was having similar thoughts and Josiah was sympathetic because he knew the abuse from a father.
Nathan understood the constant move from one family to the next.
"I understand why he ran away so as not to see him, but why wouldn't he tell us at least where he was going?" said Vin.
"What's all this?" came a voice from behind.
They all turned and saw Chris standing behind them.
The boys all got up, Vin and JD ran to hug him.
"Okay." he said, not sure what to make of what was going on.
"We thought you were going to run away." Josiah explained from behind the smaller boys.
"I was thinking about it. Part of me really wanted to, but that was just me being a coward." Chris said as he touched Sarah's scarf.
"Why did you change your mind?" Ezra asked, curious of what he would say.
"An angel told me to return." Chris said, looking to Buck.
"An angel? You saw one?" asked JD.
Buck, who understood what Chris meant, smiled.
"Don't worry Chris, we'll stand by you when he comes." said Nathan offering his support.
"Huh?" frowned Chris.
"When your dad comes." JD clarified.
"I already saw him."
There was a lengthy silence before another wave of questions began.
"What happened?"
"Did he hurt you?"
"Are you ok?"
"Why didn't you ask for a restraining order?"
"He was a butt, what do mean did he hurt me? No I'm fine. A restraining order, seriously Ezra."
Ezra shrugged.
"But why do you ask if he hit me?"
Chris looked at Buck who looked away quickly. Chris frowned.
We are experiencing difficulties because the writer had to stop Chris from killing Buck. The scene is too horrible that the author cannot even put into words what happened…
Chris settled back on the couch still glaring at Buck who was picking himself off the floor.
"Are you ok now?" asked Buck, rubbing his sore jaw.
"Don't tempt me to actually fight. I was holding back, next time you won't be so lucky." Chris growled.
"Aw, I'm so used to your little love taps that I think my jaw can rival the man of steel's."
"So what happened, if you don't mind us asking?" asked Nathan.
Chris scratched his head, trying to think of what to actually tell his friends.
"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to." Josiah added.
Chris looked to the other boys who were all waiting for a response. He sighed.
"Really it felt like he was just trying to piss me off. Saying I'm wasting my life here and that I'm better off living alone like I used to."
"You ain't gonna leave us are you?" JD asked hurriedly.
Chris shook his head, "I figured that by doing the exact opposite of what he said would piss him off."
"Did he get mad at you?"
"He feigned disappointment, but that was probably the criminal in him talking. He was never a dad to me anyway."
There was a silence that lasted a while. None of the boys knowing if they should break it or not.
"Well it's a good thing you came back. I didn't want to go chasing your butt around town and drag you back here." Buck grinned.
The other boy's looked to Chris to see how he'd respond, but when Chris only smiled, they knew it was ok to relax.
At night when it was time for bed, Chris slipped the leather jacket off and tossed it over the back of the chair at his desk. A slip of paper fell out and he paused to look at it. Bending over, he picked up the small piece of stationary. It was on a corner of what looked like a brochure. In heavy print, was nine numbers scribbled down.
Chris stared at it with disinterest for a minute before tossing it in the trash can and finish getting ready for bed.
The next day, the building was buzzing with gossip. Kids looked even more nervous when the infamous magnificent seven walked by them.
"Do you think it could've been them?" asked one girl to her companion.
Buck stopped dead in his tracks and turned to them. The girls immediately jumped.
"Huh?" he grunted at them.
"Nothing!" said the two girls before running off down the hall.
"Scaring girls away now Buck?" Chris said in a half grin.
"Funny." Buk deadpanned, "I keep hearing people talking about some sort of leak. I wish they would just spit it out and just say what's going on."
"A leak is a vegetable, Bucklin." Ezra said sarcastically and then grinned as the other boy tried to slap him upside the head.
"Have you heard what's going on, Ezra?" their leader asked.
Ezra stopped moving, but didn't put down his hands, which were defending his face.
"I didn't get much from the kid I was playing poker with, but apparently some information regarding the organization has been leaked and there is a rumor going around that the leak is in one of the teams, or it could be the entire team. Some others believe that whomever this person or people are, are working closely to with an enemy of the director and that they may try to infiltrate here. In short, we may want to cut our losses and leave this place before I- we get hurt in some shape or form, or someone starts putting the blame on us."
"Then they'd definitely will think it's us if we leave!" Nathan snapped.
"Well, we'd be away so it wouldn't matter what they thought. I won't sit here and listen to them run my name in the ground."
"They may even try to stop us. Have people chase us down." said Josiah.
"Please," huffed Vin, "have you seen the other groups? They'd have no chance against us. Not in here, and definitely not on the streets which is our home turf."
"You said that it could be a member of one of the teams or the whole team." Chris said, ignoring everyone but Ezra.
"That is correct."
"Do they have any idea? Any leads?"
"So far as in skill wise to hack into the organization's secret files, there are a few candidates who have been named. They cancelled out a few and looked at ones who may have motive or just the desire to see this place fall."
"What's their names?" asked Nathan.
"Our very own, JD, our fearless Larabee, and myself." said Ezra, his eyes which serious never leaving Chris as he spoke.
"That's nuts! Why would any of you want to bring down 4C? Especially JD!" growled Buck.
"It's a simple explanation after I uh interviewed the boy privately in the bathrooms. They believe that Chris is the main culprit who wants to see the organization fall, especially with his wild behavior. Now, while Larabee has skill with a computer, it probably isn't enough to get him into the secret files. That's where, according to Lucas from team six, he'd have JD and myself do it for him because we're incapable of doing anything for ourselves without orders."
"So they're basically blaming Chris." said Vin in a low voice, hiding his rage.
"And us." said Ezra, gesturing his hand to JD and himself. "They're just short of making the infamous magnificent seven viral."
"That's not good." Josiah shook his head.
The sound of someone clearing their throat made the boys turn to see Inez standing behind them with Mary.
"What?" barked Buck, normally he would've at least been polite. Now however, he was dealing with rumors of his friends being traitors.
Inez rose an eyebrow at him in surprise but didn't say anything, leaving that for Mary.
"The director would like to talk to you." she said in a cool voice, keeping up a professional appearance.
The boys all moved towards the office, but she put up a hand, "Just Chris."
"Like hell I'm going to let him go by himself!" shouted Buck.
Vin crossed his arms and stood next to Chris.
"Surely there's no reason for it to be just Larabee." Ezra snapped in frustration, letting out more emotion then he usually did in front of others.
"It's ok, I'll meet up with you guys later." said Chris before walking, alone this time, to the office.
Chris stopped outside of Travis's office. He could hear people talking inside about the leak. Normally he would've kept listening from the door, but he was better than that and knocked. Travis told him to enter and he found the director and another man standing in the corner of the room.
Chris stood against the wall and waited for the director to speak first.
"Chris, I'm not going to beat around the bush so I'll just get right to it." began Travis,
"You are aware of the fact there are rumors going around that a leak has been discovered. Giving information who would wish to see this program and myself destroyed."
"I became aware of those rumors this morning, yes sir. I was also made aware that there were rumors floating about that I was the person responsible of leaking said information."
The man who had been standing in the room and watching now made himself present, "Then you understand why should answer our questions seriously and not withhold any information."
Chris frowned, "I do not know you sir and therefore, I have no reason to cooperate with you."
Travis put his hand up so that the man wouldn't stop arguing with Chris. "Chris, this is Detective Bryce. He is in charge of the investigation regarding the leak. It would be nice if you would cooperate with him."
Chris looked the man up and down as if sizing him up.
"Where were you this morning at 10 am?" asked the detective.
"Depends. Where should I have been? Leaking the files right?"
"We don't have time for games, son. Do you know the claims made against you are serious?"
"It seems that you have made your decision whether or not I'm guilty. Why then should I even bother to defend myself? Is this how the justice system works, on word and gossip alone, if that's the case then I shouldn't be here?" Chris turned to Travis.
"Until we can straighten out this situation I think it best if you keep a low profile for now Chris."
"Low profile," huffed Bryce, "I want him out of here. I don't care if it's suspension or permanent. That is if you don't want to be arrested."
Chris pushed off the wall he was resting against, "I ain't your son." He took one last glance at Travis before waking to the door, "I'll pack my bags then. I wasn't planning on staying on here forever anyway."
Once Chris was gone Bryce turned to Travis.
"That boy is trouble. I don't know what hole you found him in but trust me, his absence will make this investigation go better even if he isn't involved."
Travis didn't think the same way as Bryce. He thought that a person's actions spoke louder than words. The Larabee boy was a good person. Better than some of the people he worked with in his department, and with better morals. He couldn't see Chris doing something like this. After working so hard to create a good relationship with him, it had all been torn apart in one fell swoop.
The rest of the seven were waiting in the classroom room for Chris to meet up with them after talking to the director. They were nervous about why it was taking him so long.
"Maybe we should've waited for him in our rooms." Vin said after another five minutes passed and their leader hadn't shown up yet.
The door opened and they all stood up expectantly. Chris walked in, his face not betraying anything that he was thinking about.
"Well," Buck asked, "what did Travis say?"
"He didn't say much. The detective in charge of the investigation has suggested that I be put on probation until further notice."
"What? Didn't you tell them you didn't do it?" asked JD.
"I don't see why. It makes sense to blame the person with a sketchy background. Yeah they're wrong, but if they actually do their jobs then they'll find that out sooner or later. I never had any good reputation to be tainted by this gossip so whatever."
"But you said you're leaving." Vin repeated Chris's words.
"Yeah."
"Then I'm leaving too." said Vin.
"Me too." Buck nodded.
One by one the others nodded their agreement.
"I can earn money from people just as easily. Though I may have to fight disgruntled losers now."
"Thanks Ezra for your sacrifice." Chris deadpanned.
"You have no idea what sacrifices I'm making."
"So I guess that team seven is leaving 4C Organization then." smiled Josiah.
"Don't sound so happy, Josiah. I'll miss the free food." mumbled Buck.
"The deserts." Vin nodded sympathetically.
Chris shook his head and smiled at his friends.
"Well I guess we're saying goodbye to 4C then." said Nathan.
Mary and Inez were going to meet up with Stephen and Casey when they saw Team Seven walking towards them. They were dressed in civilian clothes and carrying bags.
"Going on a holiday break or something?" asked Mary when the boys reached them.
"We're saying goodbye to this dump. We ain't going to let them bad mouth or friends and pretend everything is kosher." huffed Buck.
JD nodded, "We're bouncing!"
"Leaving this joint." Vin laughed.
"Adieu." smiled Ezra. "Ce fut un Plaisir." (It's been a pleasure)
"Blessings for you and your friends." nodded Josiah.
"Wait a minute," Mary blurted quickly, "What's going on?"
"They're kicking Chris out of here, so we aren't going to stay." Nathan answered.
Mary turned to Chris, "You shouldn't have to go if you didn't do anything wrong. Maybe if I talk to Travis."
"It wasn't Travis who suggested I leave." said Chris.
She sighed, losing ideas.
"I hope where ever you go that you will be alright." Inez offered, "All of you."
"Thanks." Buck smiled and the boys went on their way.
Travis shook his head as he watched from the window of his office, seven boys walk out of the building carrying their few belongings.
"I still think you're doing the wrong thing here, Bryce. Larabee maybe hot headed at times but he's an excellent member of this organization. He and his team are already considered the best and are exceptional in their fields."
"You don't think I know about that Larabee boy," he said the name with vehemence, "I know about all seven of them. At least what I could find. Larabee's father just received probation after being sentenced to prison for child abuse and manslaughter."
"So why do I get the sense that you're looking at Chris like he's the father?" sighed as he sat down.
"The apple never falls far from the tree, Travis. That boy may not have killed anyone yet, but he has anger management problems and violent tendencies. He's a runaway- several of those boys are- and has interfered with police business on more than one occasion."
"That maybe, but you're willfully overlooking the good he has done. All of those boys. He took some of those boys in and is like a father to some of them who never even had a real father. They've help find the missing foster kids and provided evidence of child abuse. Do you think that's the behavior of a criminal and a person who's trying to kill me and this organization?"
"You're too attached to this. You should also be home and under protection till we solve this case."
"Thank you for caring about my well-being, but I have an organization to run here and I can't leave in good conscience that they may be targeted because of me."
"I'll make sure that the chief will appoint someone to take your place while the investigation is underway."
Travis ran his hand through his hair and nodded. He wouldn't have a choice in the end so it was better that he cooperate and go along.
Chris and the others stopped outside of the Playground. They didn't talk about the reason they left, saving it for when they had stopped for the night.
"It feels so long since we've been here." smiled Vin.
"Yeah, I can't remember the last time I was able to just sit around and scheme up some jobs for us to do." Buck agreed.
"Can we do one? For old time sake?" asked Vin
"Oh yeah that sounds like fun!" JD clapped.
"I think we should figure out what's going on with that leak. Someone is threatening Travis right? Shouldn't we do something to stop that from happening?" Nathan asked, looking at the others.
Buck crossed his arms, "I don't see why it would be our problem. If they were real professionals then they would've known Chris was innocent and wouldn't have suspended him."
"That may be true, but we have a duty as members of the 4C to find this leak and stop the people going after Travis. We're the only ones who have any experience in the field." Josiah said, trying to reason with the others.
Vin shrugged.
"I think Josiah has made a valid point. With our prowess we can solve this expeditiously before the FBI." Ezra grinned.
Chris gave a tired smile, "I guess we got no choice then. I guess we're going to solve the case of the leak in 4C."
The boys nodded and with that they went inside and ate some frozen yogurt.
At night they crashed at Buck's house. The plan in the morning was to research what was actually happening at 4C. They would need to find out what information had been leaked and where that information had been sent.
Chris played with the end of the blanket he was using with Vin. The two were laying on the floor while Ezra and JD used the couch. His head was still active at one in the morning, trying to come up with a plan of action. It had been a while since he had to do so and he was determined to prove to Travis that his group was ready for the field. This wasn't just about solving the case of the leak and threats, it was to prove a point.
Shifting to lay on his side, he thought about his father who had once again came into his life. Chris frowned, he didn't know why when he was packing to leave 4C that he picked the number up and slipped it into his pocket. He heard the saying to catch a criminal you need to think like one. While he could do that, he could also just contact one and ask questions, however that was to be a last resort. Chris wasn't going to just crawl to him before even trying. His friends would have to drag him first.
"You alright?" came a whisper over his shoulder. It was Vin.
"Yeah." Chris lied.
"Don't worry, we'll get 'em. Just like we always do."
Chris couldn't help but smile at his friend's optimism.
Vin wasn't always the optimist, but he would always try to present the good side in their relationship.
'Yin and Yang' was what Josiah had called it.
Chris smiled and finally closed his eyes. Yes, everything was going to be ok.
The next morning, Chris had sent Buck and JD to the library to find any information they could online about who might want Travis dead. He had to wait another two hours before Ezra woke up.
The younger boy slept like a log and slept almost to noon. When he was awake, Chris assigned him to the task of finding out any information they could find that had been leaked. He also wanted to see if he could trace where the information had been sent and who may have sent it.
"I prefer to actually be fully awake before receiving orders, Larabee. Can I at least acquire the lavatory before commencing in my task?"
"I'm disinclined to acquiesce your request." Chris quoted Pirates of the Caribbean as he walked off.
"You think you're funny, but it isn't working!" Ezra called after him.
Chris Nathan and Josiah went out early to get information of Travis's family.
At times like these, Chris wished he still had an inside man to tell him what was happening in 4C.
He turned to see Vin staring expectantly at him, "What do you want me to do?"
"I don't have anything for you yet. Right now we're just trying to find information on all the players that might be playing. No leg work needed yet."
Vin nodded, after a slight pause he turned back to his friends, "Do you think that one of us should've stayed behind to ask more questions from the other teams?"
Chris was no longer surprised that the younger boy could read his thoughts. He shook his head.
"It may have been helpful, but to go back isn't a good idea now. We left the program and I'm pretty sure we won't be so easily invited back just to be nosey."
Vin gave a small grin, "They don't have to know one of us came back."
Chris gave Vin a knowing look, "No, you aren't going to sneak back in. We'll be fine."
"I'm going to go see if Ezra needs any help then." said Vin, turning to go.
Chris gave a little grunt before going outside into the still cool air. He tightened the scarf around his neck as he walked down the street. His plans were to check in on Buck and JD before looking for Nathan and Josiah. Chris wasn't expecting them to have found everything, but he was hoping for a bit of information to get them started.
Buck was busy checking his Facebook on another computer while JD worked on the one beside him. He wasn't paying too much attention on it since he was busy glancing at JD's screen.
The boy had begun to pull up news articles where the director's name was present. He had been a detective for ten years before taking over the 4C organization, training teenagers into becoming junior spies and agents eventually.
He had been the arresting officer of over two dozen criminals in just past three years. Most of them were in prison for over ten years.
"How are we supposed to narrow down the search?" Buck asked from his seat.
JD shrugged, "I'm sure there's someone who wants him dead."
"Kid, I'm sure all of them want him dead for arresting them. From some of the information you found so far, I see at least five crazy serial killers he locked up."
JD blew out a puff of air and sat back in his chair, "Then I don't know how to narrow it down. Maybe Ez should've been assigned to this."
"Aw come on, you're more than capable of finding this twisted SOB."
JD looked at Buck with a raised eye brow, "What have you been doing?"
Buck sat straight in his chair and turned to his screen, "Well I was checking Facebook to see about my ladies, but I stopped to read what you were looking up."
JD leaned over to see Buck's screen, "You know you could help me search."
"I know, but seemed to be doing so well without me." Buck grinned
JD shook his head then frowned, "I didn't know you were friends with Mary."
"Who?" Buck turned to his screen. A private message had recently appeared on his screen.
He clicked on it.
Hey Buck,
Sorry If I'm bothering you. I couldn't find any of the others on Facebook and I hope you won't just ignore this. For my part, I don't think Chris is guilty. I know it isn't much, but I want to help clear his name so he can come back. It's not the same without you guys and Travis and Stephen have been sent to a safe house. The new director is pretty strict so you're probably safer away right now till Travis gets back. If my team or I can be of any assistance we would be more than happy to help.
Mary
"Well what do you think of that?" Buck asked.
"I think we should tell Chris. It may be helpful to have someone on is the inside."
"I'll go and tell him then. You keep working on possible suspects."
He got up and almost ran right into Chris. The other caught him before he fell.
"Easy now, what's the rush?" Chris smiled.
"I just got a message that was to you." Buck pointed to his screen.
Chris frowned and walked to the computer station. He read Mary's letter and then sat back in the chair he was in.
'So what do you want me to tell her?" asked Buck.
"I'm not sure if I want to involve them in something like this that could be dangerous. She said herself that the new director is strict. What would he do if he finds out that the girls are asking around? They could get kicked out just like me."
"I think they know the risk, hell they knew the risk of signing up to join 4C. Girls can be good at things guys are at too."
"We can't protect them from the leak out here Buck! What if they are hurt or worse? We don't know what this person is capable of."
There was a long silence as Buck and Chris glared at one another. JD cleared his throat trying to get their attention.
"I started researching possible suspects that might have it in for Travis. It's a long list since he's put a lot of people in prison. Buck says that we should look at the crazy people who are serial killers. Most of those however are under high security places and haven't been doing anything suspicious. Should I look for people who have been arrested more recently by Travis and work back?"
Chris shook his head, "That will take too long." A thought back to his father made a shiver crawl down his spine, "Check possible suspects that made parole and the police haven't told Travis yet. Anyone who could've broken out of prison or has any ties to Travis currently."
"What do you mean?"
"Travis is affiliated with my father because he knows me. There are tons of kids in 4C who in their past life were juvenile delinquents, or were victims. Travis brought them in to give them another chance and the ability to make a difference. Maybe one of these kids has a relative that Travis arrested."
"Why the heck would he take in some criminal's kid?" Buck frowned.
"Guilt maybe."
"I'll start looking." JD nodded and began typing away.
Buck looked at his friend who looked weary.
"You ok man?"
Chris nodded, "I'll feel better when this is all over."
He began to leave but Buck grabbed his arm, "When this is all over and Travis is back, will you be going back?"
Chris looked at his friend, trying to figure out the answer himself. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do. He gave his friend a small smile before pushing his old friend's hand away and continue downstairs and to the front door. When he reached the stairs his smile fell.
If this really was a case involving someone who was on the inside and was leaking information, then he certainly wasn't going to let the girls help. He tried to think of any of the people who may have a relative in prison. The list was too high. When he got back to the house he'd have Ezra check on that too.
Outside he spotted Nathan and Josiah sitting on a bench.
"You find anything?" he asked as he came to meet them.
"Not that much but Ezra texted and said he needs to talk to you." Josiah said, digging his hands into his pockets to keep them warm.
Chris nodded and they made their way back to the house.
A/N: We survived another year! That deserves another chapter. Stay tune for more. Reviews are not required but are always welcomed.