A/N: Aaaand welcome back. I want to thank everyone for the support last chapter, I very much appreciate it. For those that enjoyed the prologue, I'm glad. However, this chapter should give you a pretty good feel about how the rest of the story will play out. Now to dispel a few fears: there will be no teenage romance, trust me, I'm am not a fan either. :) Keep that YA fiction to yourself! Okay, to be fair, there are some good ones out there. But I digress. There is no romance subplot...except for Charah. Because as I mentioned previously, Chuck and Sarah still have a role to play in this story. They won't stand in the spotlight, but they will have their moments.
Once again, reviews and critiques are always appreciated and thank you to everyone who is giving this story a chance. Another thanks to michaelfmx for being a dedicated and helpful beta.
Let's begin.
1300 Hours, Burbank, CA: SC Village: August 2nd, 2030
The afternoon sun beat down relentlessly on Sam's head. The heavy, black tactical gear she wore was suffocating enough, but with the added heat of the sun she was beginning to feel like she was being boiled alive. Blinking away the rivulets of sweat dripping down her face behind her mask, Sam pressed her back against the low wall she'd taken cover behind and took a few seconds to catch her breath. Even after school soccer practice hadn't prepared her for this much cardio. The heavy equipment and hot sun weren't helping matters anyway. Suddenly, the walkie talkie strapped to Sam's vest crackled to life and she heard Stephen's voice. "Yo, Sam, you still alive down there?"
"I think so?" Sam replied, pressing down the button on top of her walkie talkie. She'd been hit with a bit of rebound fire a few seconds ago, but nothing direct. "Where are you?"
A brief pause and then Stephen spoke again. "On top of the tower. You've got bogies incoming, Sam. On your six."
Sam peeked over the low wall, trying to make sure that her helmet didn't clear cover entirely. Sure enough, three enemy troopers were coming her way, pacing slowly through the scattered cover and ruined obstacles, their guns raised and sweeping the terrain in front of them.
"Damn it..." she hissed, ducking behind the wall again and glancing around desperately for an exit. There was a densely forested area just below the hill, but she'd have to cross a large open expanse to get to it. "Stephen?" Sam whispered into the radio. "I'm going to make a break for the woods. Can you cover me?"
"I've got you," Stephen assured her. "Hang on... Alright, Sam. On my mark."
Sam took another deep breath and waited for Stephen's count. "3, 2, 1...Go!"
The sounds of gunfire filled the air and Sam took off without looking back. The three enemies that had been creeping towards her position shouted when they saw her running, but Stephen had them pinned. They dove behind cover, avoiding his shots as best they could while also trying to send a few Sam's way. None of them landed, thankfully, although Sam could hear them whizzing past her head as she ran.
The terrain down the hill was slick, knobs and roots sticking out of the ground. Sam almost tripped more times than she could count and she cursed her innate clumsiness as she slid down the hill. Bursting through the tree line, Sam crouched behind the cover of some bushes and continued deeper into the forest. If she could make an arc around the area and come out near the enemy's base, then she'd have a perfect shot at getting what they came for. Suddenly, Sam heard the snap of twigs, not made by her own clumsy feet, and she peered around a bush to see more enemies scrambling through the trees. They slowed down and began talking with one another, looking a little lost in the maze of underbrush.
Sam raised her gun slowly, careful not to make any noise that would draw their attention. The advice Casey always gave her on the gun range came to her as she set up her shot. Remain calm, don't hold your breath. Inhale with the aim and exhale with the shot.
In and out, Sam pulled the trigger of her rifle three times in quick succession. Red bloomed in the middle of each enemy's chest and they shouted in surprise before dropping to their knees. Leaping up from cover, Sam bolted through the forest, jumping over tree roots and dodging branches until she once again found the open expanse of the compound.
Pellets flew back and forth, splattering on old cars and tires as shouts filled the air. Now that she was in range of her team, Sam's walkie talkie crackled to life once more.
"Sam?" Ethan's voice. "Are you in the base yet? It's getting hairy out here."
"Not yet," Sam replied, glancing across the arena to the large, gray base on the other end. She was closer now, out of the enemy's line of fire and the base looked pretty deserted. Her team had managed to draw a lot of the enemy team members out into the field. "But I'm close. How are you guys looking for cover?"
"We can make a push to distract them," Stephen chimed in. "But it's gonna be a final stand. You have to make it in there Sam."
"I've got it," she assured him with more confidence than she felt. Being the one picked to infiltrate the base had seemed like the natural selection when all of this started. Sam was fast, long-legged and determined. But that was before all the damn tactical gear and sun had drained her of her stamina. Still, if this was the final push, she was going to give it her all. "Let's do this."
Sam crouched by the tree line, setting her heavy gun down and tossing her helmet aside. She would be even faster if she didn't have the equipment weighing her down. Once she got the flag, she wouldn't need them anyway. Suddenly, Stephen, Ethan and Landon burst out from cover, dashing across the field, shooting wildly and shouting like maniacs. Gunfire filled the air and Sam took her chance.
Short strides, she reminded herself, easier said than done considering Sam's lithe build. Use your arms, momentum. Breathe. That was important, breathing... The base was in sight now and Sam hadn't been hit. She closed the final distance in a power slide, slamming into the wall of the base and scrambling towards the entrance. Empty, like she'd suspected. Or at least it seemed empty, until she reached the main room that housed the flag and was nearly shot in the head by the single enemy that still stood guard over the flag.
"Shit!" Too close. Sam ducked back into the hallway, panting, her mind spinning for a way to get past the guard. Luckily, she didn't have to think too hard. The gaurd followed her and peered down the hallway opposite the one she'd taken cover in. Slowly, Sam crept forward, around the corner and past the guard's turned back. Once she was back in the main room, she made a dash for the red flag, plucking it off its stand and turning just in time to see the guard returning, raising his gun to shoot her.
"Surrender!" the guard shouted, his voice muffled behind the mask. Sam raised her hands, but kept a hold of the flag. Realizing now that she probably shouldn't have left her gun behind in the woods; she didn't have a way out. Sam was trapped and, because of her lack of foresight, her entire team was about to lose. Suddenly there was a shout and the guard aiming at her whirled around just in time to get a face full of Ethan Grimes. The ninety-pound ball of fury tackled the larger guard, taking a shot in the process, but giving Sam the opportunity she needed to bolt for the window.
"Your country thanks you Ethan!" Sam shouted as she ran. Ethan was too busy enacting a dramatic death to reply, but he did give her a thumbs up, letting his hand quiver in mid-air before falling on to the floor with a resounding smack. Like father, like son, Sam thought with a smile, thinking of her goofy uncle.
Sam ran again, her knuckles white around the flag. Pellets flew, shouts filled her ears, but she kept her eyes trained on the rest of her team, covering her with their own shots as she hurried towards their base. Sam stumbled the last few steps, throwing herself over the line that signified their base and raising her fist that held the flag in the air, whooping victoriously. Stephen laughed and clapped her shoulder, signaling to the other team that the game was over.
"Did we win?" Ethan's voice came over the walkie talkies. "Sam had better have made it after that valiant sacrifice."
"Get your butt out here and see for yourself," Sam replied, as the other team approached them, guns lowered and their masks removed.
"Good game, guys," Stephen said, offering the captain of the other team his hand. The dark-haired boy looked down at Stephen's hand and frowned. Then he jerked his chin at Sam and said, "Doesn't count."
"Huh?"
The boy held his hand out and gestured for Sam to hand him the flag. "You didn't have your gun or your gear when you took the flag from our base. Technically you were disqualified the second you took that stuff off. So, we win the round by default."
"What?" Sam balked, holding the flag against her chest. "Oh come on! Who cares if I didn't have my gun. If anything, that put me at a disadvantage."
The boy shrugged. "I don't make the rules; I just know that you broke them."
"Are you serious right now?" Sam argued, feeling her face flush. She took a step towards the taller boy, doing her best to look intimidating. "Come on, in a real situation it wouldn't have mattered if I didn't have the gun when I stole your damn flag. We win, you're bitter."
"What real situation? This is paintball," the boy replied. "I'm not bitter, I'm just playing the game."
Sam opened her mouth to argue, but Stephen put a hand on her shoulder, reining her in. To anyone on the outside, it would have looked like a comforting gesture, but Sam knew it was Stephen's way of literally holding her back. He gripped her shoulder tightly, pulling her backwards and pushing her behind him, attempting to soothe the enemy team with a charming smile.
Sam groused, crossing her arms angrily when Stephen took the flag from her and handed it back to the other team. "Alright, fair enough. We lost. Sorry guys, just a misunderstanding. Good game, though, right?" There was a general positive consensus from everyone, except the dark-haired captain who sneered at Sam, and she had the sudden urge to shove his paintball gun up his ass.
Stephen lead the way off the field as Sam, Landon and Ethan trailed behind him listlessly. They turned in their rented gear to the front desk and piled into Stephen's car, each one covered in dust, sweat and dirt. It was lucky, Sam thought, that Clara wasn't the one that had driven them to the paintball arena. If she had, they would have been forced to wait in the hot sun while she lay down towels to cover the seats of her precious car.
"So, besides that little mishap," Stephen said as they pulled out of the parking lot. "Everyone have fun today?"
"Paintballs hurt," Landon said, looking at a bruise forming on his forearm.
Stephen chuckled. "Yeah, they can. That's why you're supposed to wear baggy clothes."
"I did!"
"You're probably just a wimp then," Sam murmured as she stared out the window, deciding to take out her frustration on her little brother. Landon whipped his head around and frowned at her.
"Don't get mad at me! You're the one who got us disqualified because of all the theatrics. Seriously Sam, who takes their helmet off during a paintball match?"
"You know what-" Sam began, whirling on her brother, but Stephen interrupted before either of them could continue.
"Alright guys, calm down. Let's not start a war over this okay? It was just a game, there's no shame in losing. Point is, we had fun. Right?"
Sam and Landon fell silent, glaring at one another before directing their attention out their respective windows. Ethan, who was unfortunate enough to be stuck between the two of them in the back seat, raised his hand and murmured, "I had a good time."
"That's the spirit buddy."
Sam spent the rest of the car ride in silence, resting her forehead against cool window. She was frustrated that they'd lost this game, but not because she'd screwed up. Stephen and Clara were leaving for college in less than a week, and this summer vacation was the last one that they would all spend together as a family. After graduating high school last year, Stephen-in true Woodcomb fashion-had taken a year off to volunteer with the Peace Corps. Clara had joined him and while it kept them both busy, it also allowed Sam another summer with her cousins. The annual summer trip to the beach house in Malibu was one of her favorite times of the year. There was no schoolwork to worry about- except for summer projects, but who did those anyway? -there was surfing, boating, paintball and family. The Woodcombs, Grimes and Bartowskis piled into the beach house for a month or two every summer and had done so since Sam was a middle schooler. Now that Stephen and Clara were leaving for college, Clara for her junior year, things were going to change. She'd heard Clara talking animatedly with her parents about her plans to rent an apartment with her two current roommate from Duke. If she moved permanently to North Carolina, Sam doubted they'd see much of her back in Burbank anytime soon. And Stephen was going to be so busy once he joined her there as a first year student.
Who knew or if they'd find other things to do with their summers, different friends maybe. Sam wouldn't blame them for not wanting to return to Burbank. Sam wasn't ready for things to be different, and she'd wanted this last paintball game to go perfectly. A perfect victory, a perfect game, a perfect end. No such luck. Life sucked. By the time they arrived back at the beach house, Sam was in a darker mood than she had been when they'd left the paintball field. As the others headed up to the house, Sam hung back, trudging down to the beach alone instead.
o-o-o-o
Chuck sat with Morgan, Casey and Devon in the living room chatting and sipping on cold beers, while Sarah, Alex and Ellie set things up for the barbeque out back. When the front door opened and the trio of young men lumbered into the room, covered in grime and paint, Chuck couldn't help but grin.
"Hey, the troops are back, how did it go guys?"
"Not bad," Landon said, heading for the fridge and rifling through it, looking for something to satisfy his picky tastes. "We lost though."
"Ah, that's a bummer," Devon said, taking a swig of his beer. "Should have taken John with you."
Casey grunted and shook his head. "That would have been a little unfair to the other team, don't you think."
"Depends," Morgan chimed in. "I haven't seen you in action for a while, Casey. Maybe you've lost your touch. These young kids, tough to keep up with them nowadays, you know?" Casey just growled and muttered something to himself.
"Hey buddy, don't ruin your appetite before dinner," Chuck said as he watched Landon take two of the cupcakes Alex had made for Emmy and Ethan's birthday out of the fridge.
"I won't," Landon murmured, his mouth already filled with cupcake.
Chuck frowned and looked around the room. "Where's your sister?"
"Dunno. Probably moping somewhere."
Chuck sighed, setting his beer down and rising from the couch. "I'll be back, guys."
Casey, Devon and Morgan just nodded and returned to their conversation while Chuck strode out the back door of the beach house, scanning the shoreline for any sign of Sam. He found her quickly. She hadn't gone very far, stopping near the pier and plopping down in the sand, watching the waves roll onto the shore. Chuck crossed the beach, coming to a stop next to Sam and dropping down next to her with a sigh. She acknowledged him with a quick glance, but said nothing, returning her gaze to the sea. Chuck was silent, listening to the screeching gulls and pounding waves as he tried to think of what to say.
"There's no shame in losing, you know?" he tried after a while. Sam looked away, digging her fingers into the sand. She began bunching it into clumps and then flattening it out over and over again.
"It's not that," she murmured, her voice nearly drowned out by the waves.
"You mad at your brother?"
"I'm always mad at him."
Chuck chuckled, "Fair enough." Sam didn't seem to share his amusement. She frowned, dark brows drawing together and her lips trembling slightly. Chuck leaned over, bumping her shoulder with his. "What's the matter, Sammy?"
He knew the nickname would get to her. She sighed, blinking and rubbing her eyes furiously before responding. "Everything's going to change when summer's over."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, Stephen's leaving and Clara's moving…. What if they don't come back from college? What if they don't want to spend summers with us anymore?"
"I doubt that will happen."
"But what if it does?" Sam turned to face him, finally, her blue eyes glassy and red rimmed. "How did you feel when Uncle Devon and Aunt Ellie left for Chicago for the first time?"
"Well," Chuck sighed. "It was tough. I'm not going to sugarcoat it Sam. Parting ways can be really hard." Sam's shoulders slumped and she looked back at the waves. "But you know what? Even though things changed, I wasn't alone. I had your mom and Morgan and Alex. Even Uncle Casey." Sam couldn't help but chuckle. "Things change all the time, Sam. But you're not alone. And you're not going to lose your cousins. You guys are family. Nothing changes that."
Sam nodded slowly and offered Chuck a small smile. "Thanks."
"Anytime," he replied softly. "Wanna hug it out?"
"No."
"Sure you do."
"No I don't."
"Hug." Chuck demanded. He leaned over and wrapped an arm around Sam's shoulder until she squirmed and wiggled out of his reach, her eyes flashing with amusement. "Fine," Chuck continued with a mock pout. "I didn't want to hug you anyway. You smell."
Sam looked down at the grimy, paint smeared clothes she still wore.
"In fact, you should probably take a shower before going inside or your mom might have a heart attack," Chuck teased.
"A shower before I go in?" Sam raised a skeptical brow. "How would I go about doing that?"
"Well...I mean...There's an ocean right in front of us. So convenient." Chuck grinned evilly and Sam's eyes widened as she caught on to what he was insinuating.
"No!" Sam tried to run, but Chuck was faster. He caught her ankle when she tried to bolt, dropping her back to the sand with an 'oof' and hoisting her into a fireman carry after a brief wrestle.
"Stop!" She shouted, struggling for freedom, but Chuck held her tightly on his shoulders, striding steadily toward the ocean. "Dad, no! Don't dunk me!"
"Come oooon," he drawled, grunting when Sam's flailing arm smacked him in the chest. "Quick and easy."
"I swear to god if you-" Sam's protest was cut short as Chuck hoisted her off of his shoulder and dropped her into the ocean, scurrying backwards before she could recover and drag him under as well. Sam came up, sputtering, her dark hair plastered to her face. "Oh my god! You suck, Dad!"
"But you're clean now, so you're welcome," Chuck called out from his safe haven on the shore. He glanced over his shoulder at the beach house where a thin line of smoke was rising from the barbeque. "Come on, Sam. Stop goofing around in the ocean, or you're gonna miss dinner."
Sam scoffed and floundered to shore, her sodden clothes slowing her down as she chased Chuck up the beach, laughing the whole way back to the house. Once inside, Sam made her way up the staircase, tracking puddles of water as she went that she knew she'd have to clean up later... Or blame Landon for and force him to be the one to clean it up.
Yeah, better plan.
When she'd showered and donned a fresh set of clothes, Sam hurried back down the hallway, stopping in front of Landon's open door and peering inside. He and Ethan were hunched over Landon's work desk, mumbling to each other and tinkering with some sort of gadget Sam hadn't seen before. It wasn't uncommon for Landon to lock himself in his room and spend hours on his robotics projects, but considering the fact that there was a full blown barbeque going on downstairs while he toiled away, Sam felt it necessary to assert her older sister privileges now.
"Landon come on, leave your toys for later, mom and dad want us downstairs."
Landon didn't even turn around to look at her, although Ethan did, and his eyes were wide and round as if he'd just been caught doing something red-handed. "We'll be down in a minute. And they're not toys. They're robots."
"Toy robots."
"Shut up."
Sam rolled her eyes and sighed. If Landon insisted on ignoring the barbeque, then the consequences were his to deal with, not hers. Ethan, on the other hand, stood up from his chair next to Landon and hurried to Sam's side, offering her a feeble smile before trotting down the stairs to join the others. Sam followed, leaving Landon to his tinkering, and hopping down the stairs two at a time.
She followed Ethan out the backdoor, where the barbeque was already well underway. Casey was manning the grill, churning out burgers and hotdogs like a pro, while Morgan stood by his side watching with wide eyes. Devon and Ellie were finishing setting the long, white picnic tables, while Stephen helped Clara start a flame in the fire pit.
Sam scanned the crowd for her father, eager to repay him for the dump in the ocean. She found him near one of the coolers, digging through the contents and handing a drink to Sarah before resuming the search for himself. She hurried to his side, fully prepared to startle the hell out of him while he was distracted, but her mother acknowledged her, alerting Chuck to her presence.
"There you are," Sarah said as Sam approached with a slump in her shoulders, disappointed that her scare had been ruined. "How was paintball?"
"Good. We lost. I broke the rules." Sam shrugged, taking the soda that Chuck offered her and narrowing her eyes threateningly at him in the process. He chuckled.
Sarah sighed and shook her head. "Why am I not surprised?"
"She is your daughter," Chuck said, waggling his brows at her.
Sarah frowned. "I never broke the rules."
"I'd say you bent them, at least a little, if the way you handled the ass-et was any indication." Sam would love to blame the two beers her father had already had for his blatant flirtation, but her parents were always like this. As soon as Chuck leaned forward to plant a sensuous kiss on Sarah's lips, Sam cringed and whirled around.
"Aaand I'm out," she yelped, scurrying away from them and making her way towards Stephen and Clara.
"Hey," Stephen called as she approached. "Glad you decided to join us. I thought you'd be too disappointed about the paintball game."
"Too disappointed to miss out on Uncle Casey's cooking? No way."
Stephen chuckled and Clara came around the fire pit to rub her thumb against Sam's cheek. "You missed some paint."
Sam pushed her hand away and touched the spot herself; she'd been so thorough in the shower. That was when she saw the playful smirk on Clara's lips and she rolled her eyes.
"Good one, Clara..." Okay, so maybe Sam was going to miss Stephen a little more than Clara when summer came to an end. Clara had a tendency of getting on Sam's nerves. They were so fundamentally different, but Clara had her good moments too. Sam vividly remembered the days they'd spent testing the stereos in Clara's first car by blasting Fifth Harmony as loud as they could and attempting to sing along over the blaring music.
"Where's Landon?" she asked, looking around as if she'd see his curly brown head bobbing through the group any minute now.
"Upstairs messing around with his robots. I couldn't make him come down."
"I'll go get him." Clara said, sweeping into the house without a backwards glance. For as often as Sam and Clara argued, she and Landon seemed to get along far better. It was probably due to Clara's natural motherly tendencies. Landon reacted well to coddling. At least that was how Sam saw it.
Casey called everyone together just as Clara came back downstairs with Landon. As the family sat down with their plates of food, the dinner party came into full swing. Afterwards, Devon and Stephen relit the fire pit, and the group gathered around for s'mores while Ellie and Alex brought out cupcakes for Emmy and Ethan's birthday. After the celebration, Sam sat on the ground-although there were plenty of chairs-next to Sarah. She stared into the bright, golden fire, her eyes slipping shut every now and then as the steady pulse of the flames and Sarah's hand stroking through her hair made her drowsy. Suddenly, in the distance, she heard a soft barking that pulled her back to reality. It wasn't until that moment that she realized their golden retriever, Chewy, had been missing from the party from some time.
"Do you hear that?" Sam asked, perking up and listening for the sound of the dog again. Sarah's hand stilled in her hair and she looked out into the shadows past the fire pit, towards the beach. A distant bark came again, and something in it made Sam nervous.
"That's weird," Chuck said, having heard the bark as well. "When did he run off?" He shifted to rise from his chair but Sam stood first.
"I'll go find him," she said, trotting towards the beach while the others resumed their conversations. She heard her mother utter a quick, 'be careful' and she waved a hand to show that she'd heard.
Heading into the darkness, Sam picked her way across the grassy incline to the beach. The sand was cold and wet, and squelched between her toes as she walked. She called for Chewy every so often until she heard him barking more fiercely and she changed direction slightly, following the sound.
"Chewy!" she hissed when she thought she could see the dog's bright yellow coat in the moonlight. He paused, looking back at her. He wagged his tail once, then continued barking at a man standing a few feet away. Sam couldn't see his face in the darkness, but judging by the ferocity of Chewy's bark, she probably didn't want to.
"Chewy, come," she commanded, walking towards her dog and reaching for his collar. Chewy's fur was bristled and his white teeth shone when he growled at the ominous figure. "Come on." The dog didn't budge, he continued growling low in his chest. The figure took a step forward suddenly and Chewy jerked, nearly tugging Sam's arm out of its socket.
"I've always thought retrievers to be gentle creatures," the figure said. It was a man, Sam concluded, with a deep voice and dark hair; that much she could tell. "Glad you came around when you did. This one has had me cornered for the last ten minutes."
Sam didn't respond right away. It wasn't uncommon for people to walk this stretch of beach, even late at night, but for Chewy to be so openly aggressive didn't sit right with her. The man took another cautious step forward, earning a low growl from Chewy, and now his face was illuminated by the moonlight. He had dark eyes and a long hawkish nose under salt and pepper hair, scars on his cheeks, and wore a smirk that made Sam uneasy.
"Who are you?"
"Old family friend," the man replied. "That is, if you are who I think you are."
Sam froze. She wasn't sure what to do. Everything in her screamed to run back home, but a small, curious part of her wanted to know what was going on and who this man was and why he thought he knew her.
"Who do you think I am?" she asked, tightening her grip on Chewy's collar. She was safe as long as he was between them.
"Well," the man pursed his lips, "I'd say you're a Bartowski, judging from the innate instinct to run straight into danger, not from it. Your eyes are a bit of a giveaway too."
"Who are you?" Sam demanded.
"Cole Barker. And if it isn't too much trouble, I'd like to speak with your parents, Sam. I've got a message for them."
Sam took a hesitant step back, pulling Chewy with her. The dog growled again when the man chanced a step towards them. Sam tensed, ready to turn and run when suddenly a familiar voice stopped her.
"Cole?"
The man looked up, away from Chewy, a gentle smile lighting up his scarred face. "Sarah, it's good to see you again."
Sam spun around to see her mother approaching them, carrying a flashlight that lit up the beach ahead of her as she walked. She didn't stop walking until she stood between Sam and the mysterious man calling himself Cole. The fact that Sarah was using herself as a human blockade wasn't lost on Sam, but she peeked out from behind her mother's shoulder anyway, still gripping Chewy's collar tightly.
"It's been too long," Cole said, the smile still stretching his lips. "You're still as beautiful as the day we met."
Sam wrinkled her nose, barely managing to hold back her disgusted scoff. Who is this guy?
"What are you doing here?" Sarah's voice was cold, distrusting; she hadn't bothered to acknowledge Cole's compliment.
"I'm afraid I didn't come for a happy reunion," Cole said with a sigh. He uncrossed his arms and took another careful step towards them. Sarah reached out for Sam as he did, pushing her back just slightly. It was enough for Cole to notice.
"I'm not going to hurt your daughter, Sarah. In fact, what I have to tell you may save her life."
"What are you talking about?"
Cole's dark eyes glittered in the moonlight. "If it's all the same to you, I'd like to continue this conversation with Chuck present. It concerns both of you." Sarah hesitated and then nodded slowly. Sam looked back and forth between her mother and Cole, trying to figure out what he'd meant by a conversation that could 'save her life'. She didn't have time to ask, Cole was already striding towards the beach house. Sarah followed after him, taking Sam's hand and leading her across the darkened beach. Chewy followed amiably, his tail wagging happily and his tongue lolling out of his mouth, all signs of aggression gone.
"Mom," Sam whispered, taking a few quick steps to match her mother's pace. "What's going on?"
Sarah shook her head in response, shushing Sam when she tried asking again. Sam pouted and followed the two adults in silence until they reached the back door of the beach house. Sarah let Cole inside and then turned her attention to Sam.
"Go back to the others, Sam. Tell your dad to meet me inside." She turned after Cole without waiting for Sam's response.
"Wait, Mom!" The door swung shut in Sam's face and she was left with no choice but to go and find Chuck. Frustrated, she stomped back to the bonfire and sidled up to her father, careful to avoid drawing too much attention from the rest of the group, who were still chatting amongst themselves.
"Dad."
"Hey, there you are, did you find your mom? She went after you a while ago." Chuck reached down and patted Chewy's head, who panted happily.
"Yeah, she wants to see you inside the house."
Chuck's brows furrowed. "She wants to see me inside?"
Glancing around at the rest of the group, Sam nodded and spoke in a harsh whisper. "Chewy found someone on the beach who wanted to talk with you. He said his name was Cole."
Suddenly a look of concern twisted Chuck's features. He pushed himself out of his chair, setting his beer on the ground and excusing himself from the rest of the group. Sam trailed after him when he hurried towards the house until he turned and stopped her.
"Go back to the others, Sam."
"Dad, what's going on?" Sam asked with some agitation.
"I don't know, but if Cole's involved it can't be anything good." Setting one hand on her shoulder, Chuck turned her back towards the bonfire.
"Can't you at least tell me who he is?"
"Not right now."
"Dad, come on. I just—"
"Sam." The authority in Chuck's voice startled her into silence. It wasn't like him to sound so cold. Whoever this Cole man was, he really had set her parents on edge. "Go on."
Sam didn't argue anymore, she trudged back to the fire pit, throwing one last look over her shoulder at Chuck as he disappeared inside the house.
"Everything alright?" Casey asked as Sam rejoined the group.
"Yeah, fine. Mom wanted to talk to dad for a little. Something private. No big deal."
Casey narrowed his eyes and grunted; he didn't look convinced. His eyes flickered from Sam, to the house and then back to the beer in his lap. Sam sat far away from the fire pit, hoping she could blend into the shadows and sneak away to do a little spy work once the others were distracted again. She noticed Landon giving her a look out of the corner of his eye and she returned it briefly, raising her eyebrows at him and jerking her chin towards the house. The two waited patiently as conversation resumed; finally, Landon stood and announced, loudly, that he had to go to the bathroom. Sam nearly rolled her eyes when the rest of the group gave him confused looks. As soon as Landon strode off towards the house, Sam slipped into the shadows after him. She was going to find out what Cole wanted, whether her parents liked it or not.
Thank you for reading! Reviews and thoughts are appreciated.
I will see you in the next chapter.