Chapter 2
Monday after school Ande and Alex went to the prison to visit Don, even though Alex was still a little antsy about it. Unfortunately for Alex, Ande wasn't letting him out of it that easy. When Don saw both of them, he was definitely shocked, but he tried to hide it.
"Hey," he said, trying to hide his surprise at seeing Alex.
"Hey," Alex said, trying not to stutter. He wasn't very successful in his attempts to not be nervous.
"How are you?"
"Fine." Alex's eyes were darting everywhere, looking at anyone or anything other than his sister or father. "I-I'-"
"Don't worry about it." Don knew what he was going to say, but it didn't matter. He was just happy to see his son for the first time in over two months. Alex smiled, but Don could tell he was still acting a little unsure. "It's OK, you know." Don grabbed Alex's hand so he'd look at him.
"What?," Alex asked, confused.
"I didn't want either of you to have to go through this. I'm sorry." Don looked down. Ande and Alex looked at each other, neither knew what to say. Alex couldn't handle himself anymore.
"I gotta go," Alex told them, and got up and left. Ande and Don both sighed.
"He'll be fine. He just needs time," Ande told Don, seeing the worried look on his face.
"Yeah. I never expected this to be easy." He looked back down.
"Then what did you expect?," Ande asked him bluntly, but saw the look on his face. "Never mind."She looked away, he could tell something was off.
"You okay?," he asked her.
"Uh, yeah. Why?"
"You just seem a little distracted." She was trying to avoid looking him in they eye. She had been trying for months to keep him in the dark about the nightmares. "How much sleep did you get last night?"
"Enough. Look I'm fine. Things are still just a little weird."
"A little?," he asked skeptically, but realized something was up. "What happened?"
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." She smiled, squeezed his hand, and got up. "I should get going. See ya later."
"See ya," he said, smiling back. She was a mystery.
Ande and Alex stopped by the park on their way back to the craftsman. They sat down on the bench. Alex was unusually quiet, and Ande knew he was just thinking. She put her arms around him, trying to comfort him as much as possible.
"You know I'm going to always look out for you, right?" They stared at each other for a couple minutes before he could respond.
"Then what is it you're not telling me?," he asked her.
"What are you talking about?" She had a feeling she knew what he was talking about. She'd known she wouldn't be able to keep this secret from her brother for very long, she was surprised at how long it had been already.
"You're right, so what exactly is it that you found out about that Don doesn't want you to tell anyone?," he shot back sarcastically. She sighed.
"Look, can you just trust me on this one?"
"Why? We finally had a family again and now another secret is tearing it apart? Are we ever going to get normal lives?" Alex was on the verge of crying, Ande knew how badly he wanted a normal family.
"Hey, look at me," she told him, forcing him to look at her. "This isn't the same thing and you know it. What's happening now is only going to be temporary." She was trying to comfort her brother, but also trying to force memories, ones she was trying desperately to forget, out of her mind.
"Promise me this will be over soon," Alex pleaded with his sister. When she was quiet he kept at it, seeing she wanted to. "Ande Jade Trellus, promise me!" She took a deep breath, knowing he wouldn't be able to take much more.
"Look, I want this to be over as much as you do!" She stared at her brother so he would know she really meant it, that she wasn't lying. "But I'm not going to make you a promise that I'm not sure of, but I will promise you that this is going to end, maybe not soon, but it will end!"
A couple days after the twins visit with Don, Alan was noticing their moods had changed drastically. Alex had been a lot quieter than usual, and Ande seemed to be in a downward spiral. When she didn't come after practice and Alex wouldn't say where she was, Alan checked her room and found an ashtray full of cigarette buds. He confronted Alex and he still wouldn't say anything. Alan was starting to worry, about both of them.
It was after midnight when Megan and David were getting ready to leave the office for the night, while Colby still had some paper work to finish. He was filing his last report for the night when his cell phone rang.
"Hello?," he answered.
"Colby?"
"Ande? What's up?," he asked, surprised to hear from her this late.
"You think you could come pick me up?"
"Sure, where are you? You sound a little different." He had a look of surprise when she answered. "OK, I'll be there in ten minutes."
When Colby got there he went over to the desk and asked for Ande. After the guy sent for her, he turned back to Colby.
"What does a FBI agent want with some drunk teenager?"
"She's a friends' daughter. How drunk was she?," Colby replied, wondering how Don was going to take this news.
"Way above the legal limit, but she wasn't acting very drunk. She must have a high tolerance or something," he shrugged. Colby silently laughed at that, but just then one of the officers brought Ande out.
She was signed out, given her things, and then she and Colby walked silently to his car. He drove her back to the craftsman, they were silent until they reached the driveway. He parked and shut the engine off before he said anything.
"Lights are still on. Either Charlie's doing some weird math thing, or him and Alan are waiting up for you," he said.
"Probably just Alan. Although Charlie's probably working on some weird math thing too," she replied, staring at the house and taking a deep breath. He looked over at her.
"You wanna tell me what happened tonight?"
"Nothing, I just went to a party that got a little out of hand, and the cops came." Colby looked over at her, he sighed, and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Look, I know I'm not your dad. I respect the hell out of him. Which is why I'm saying and doing this now." Ande just stared at him. "I know this is tough, but I think something is going with this whole thing. I think Don's working on some undercover assignment that only him and a few people with high enough clearance know about."
"Why?," she asked him. She knew he was right, but wasn't sure how he'd figured it out.
"I was a triple agent for over two years, and I know Don pretty well." When she didn't say anything, he put two and two together. "You know don't you?" She nodded. "You have any proof?"
"Why? What difference would that make?," she asked.
"Because if I have proof, then I may be able to speed up the process and get him home sooner."
"You promise?" She wanted to make sure he wasn't playing some kind of trick on him to get her to hand over the file she'd copied, without Don knowing of course.
"I promise."
"Let me think about it."
"Fair enough." They sat in silence for a few minutes. Then Colby finally broke the silence. "You want me to go in with you?," he asked, motioning to the house.
"No. It might make it a little more difficult," she sighed.
"Good point," he laughed, but then turned serious. "So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" When she looked down, he continued. "I'm not gonna bust you for knowing. I just want to help."
"See ya tomorrow, Colby," she said, getting out of the car.
"Count on it. Try to stay out of trouble." He smiled, she just half-laughed and walked to the house.
When she got inside and shut the door, she turned around to find Alan standing there staring at her.
"Sorry," she muttered sarcastically before walking around him to go upstairs.
"Have you been drinking?," he asked her, able to smell the alcohol on her breath.
"What's it to you?" She wasn't in the mood for this, and she let it show. She took off up the stairs.
"This isn't the end of this subject!," he yelled after her. He knew it was useless to talk any sense into her when she was in this mood. Don had this mood too, usually after a rough case, but Alan didn't want to think about his eldest son. Shaking his head, he headed to the kitchen for a snack.