AN: I have no idea what happened. Thanks to Montydog13 and Tlyna52 for letting me know that people are still reading this thing. Now, let's see what else might happen here.
"Good morning, Agent Tanner," AJ nodded in his direction as she frowned at her desk. "No one else is in."
"Fine by me," he nodded, opening the door and heading to his desk. Draping his light jacket over his chair, he whistled as he headed into the breakroom and got out the pot for him and Josiah. Waiting for it to start brewing, Vin hopped up on the counter and let his legs hang off the edge.
"Agent Tanner?"
"Yeah, Darlin'," he called. "In the breakroom. Whatcha need?"
AJ appeared in the door, looking nervous. "Uhm, last night. Before you left? Did you happen to see a yellow stack of sticky notes? It was – I don't remember putting it in my desk and it's not there. Then I thought that maybe the janitor may have done something with it, but no one on the night staff had come near my desk and didn't remember seeing the notes in the first place. I didn't take it out of the office and I don't know who else would want to be on this floor."
Vin frowned slightly. She looked unusually nervous for such a small thing. "Cain't you get more?"
"I brought that stack from the FBI," she wrung her hands. "Agent Lowe is going to kill me."
"Okay, Darlin', now hold on," Vin jumped down. "I'm sure Chris'll be able to talk him down from any homicidal fantasies." Joke falling flat, Vin put a hand on her arm. "AJ, I'll help you find yer notes, but I'm sure Chris won't mind if you make do with another color until then, okay? Now, I'm sure we'll find it and prevent Lowe being tossed into prison for murder. Where did you go before leaving last night?"
"I already re-traced my steps, but maybe another pair of eyes will help," she frowned thoughtfully.
"That's what I'm thinkin'. Come on. Show me what you've done so far."
By the time Nathan and Josiah came in, AJ was quickly deteriorating. Vin ran a hand through his shoulder length brown hair.
"Well, when AJ left last night, her post – it notes were somewhere on her desk," he told them. "Anybody know the last one to leave?"
"Chris," Josiah answered. "After AJ and Nathan, you, Buck, JD, myself and Ezra."
"Late meeting with Judge Travis," AJ added. None of them challenged her knowledge, because she was – after all – a secretary.
Nathan nodded thoughtfully. "Well, there's a camera that JD could look into, but we'll have to wait for him. Vin's right, AJ," he turned to her. "Chris won't mind if you use a different color until we either recover your old ones or get you some more. And I doubt Lowe will kill you for losing some post-it notes."
If anything, AJ got even more fidgety.
"Here, Sister," Josiah rummaged around in his desk. "I don't have much use for purple," he added, handing the light purple colored notes over. "Maybe it will be more suited for your work."
"Thank you, sir," she mumbled timidly, fingering the post-its.
"You don't need to be all formal," he waved it away. "Glad to help."
Seemingly at a loss to do something else, AJ just stood there.
Vin sighed. "C'mon, Darlin'. Nathan brought some apple juice in the other day. Why don't we go get some?"
"I'll have some, too, I think," Nathan easily agreed.
Nathan, AJ, Vin and Josiah went into the breakroom, where Vin got out two plastic cups for juice and two mugs for coffee. Josiah sat down with AJ at one of the round tables scattered across the room and smiled slightly as she tried to calm down.
"There, now," he nodded as she sipped her juice. "Don't you feel a little better?"
They sat there for a few minutes in comfortable silence when Buck and JD finally arrived.
"What's going on?" JD frowned, taking in the scene.
The boys quickly filled them in on AJ's missing notes.
"And I still haven't found poor Tammy's pebble," JD ruffled his shaggy hair.
"Think it's the same person?" Vin frowned at him.
"And maybe they messed with the camera on this floor, too," JD rushed out of the office to check on his computer.
"Now, see, Darlin'?" Buck smiled slightly. "We'll figure this out."
Vin shrugged. "We thought that someone borrowed them and left a note, but we didn't find anything."
Nathan thoughtfully sipped his juice, but before he could formulate a response, they heard JD from the office.
"Not you, too! Now we have three things to find!"
They all wandered out of the breakroom to see JD scratching the back of his head as Andrew lifted his hands in a 'what can you do?' gesture.
The agent from Team Nine shook his head. "Hey, boys," he smiled sheepishly. "I don't suppose you've seen a can of green paint, do you? It's a prop for the bust going down later this afternoon, but we've only just discovered it missing."
"First Tammy, then AJ, and now you," Vin huffed a sigh, folding his arms across his chest.
"We either got a strong magpie who can lift paint cans and open drawers, a poltergeist of a thief," Buck postulated.
"My money's on a thief," Andrew huffed. "So, what did you lose?" he turned to AJ.
She held up the stack of purple notes. "A whole stack of yellow ones. And Tammy lost a present from her relatives." No one else needed to know what that present was or the story behind it.
"It is a thief," JD scowled at his computer. "Looks like your camera had problems, too, Andy."
"And ours?" AJ wanted to know.
JD didn't answer for a long minute. "Can you go out there and see if you show up on screen?"
AJ gamely went out as the guys clustered around the computer screen. After a few minutes, Andy frowned at the empty hall.
The camera was focused on the stretch of hall leading from AJ's desk.
Buck went to the door and poked his head out to see AJ waving half-heartedly at the camera. "Darlin', unless you're a vampire, you ain't showin' up." They returned to the group just in time for JD to report, "The footage is being looped."
"Why didn't security pick up on this?" Andy wanted to know.
"It's pretty good," JD admitted, "and no one would have caught it if they didn't know what they were looking for."
"JD was lookin' for it," Buck ruffled the younger man's hair, proud of him for spotting it.
"But this doesn't make sense," Nathan spread his hands. "Why go to all this trouble just to take some office supplies? They could have just asked. I'm sure AJ would have let them have some."
"Better to ask forgiveness than permission."
"Huh?" JD asked, all of them turning to AJ. "What's that mean?"
"Oh, it's just something that someone told me once or twice," she shrugged it off. "I thought it fitting."
"Well," Buck frowned thoughtfully, turning back to the matter at hand. "We'll have to assume that the same person is behind this."
"Think anything else has gone missing?" Andy wanted to know.
AJ absently picked up Buck's desk phone and dialed a number. "Yes, hello, Tammy," she spoke as the other end picked up. "I was wondering if anyone else has reported something having gone missing… Agent Bowen is here about a can of paint he was going to use for a bust… I lost a whole stack of post-its… uh-huh…" she frowned. "Okay. Can you keep an ear to the ground and let me know if anything else comes up? Yes… tell the other girls. Thanks."
"Well?" Vin wanted to know.
"Right now, it's just three," she lifted a shoulder.
"Well, I can't think of anything right now," Andy frowned after a minute. "I mean, it's not important or anything, but if you figure it out, let me know, yeah?"
"You'll be in the top twenty," JD absently waved him off, concentrating on figuring out who could have messed with the cameras.
Vin looked around. Were these random incidents? Who was behind them? But most importantly, who was next?
** Later
After the morning's excitement, things died down after Chris and Ezra got in.
Everyone was curious about it, but they still had work to do. As AJ was distributing mail and files, JD was busy with a few different things, but he was still running some sort of test with the affected cameras. The floor's looped footage was being put through its own barrage of tests.
Chris let him work on his little mystery as it was an unusually slow day and he didn't see the harm in it. Of course, he could also admit to his own healthy dose of curiosity. He was just going through some files when AJ waiting by the open door caught his attention.
"Something I can help with, Darlin'?" he smiled encouragingly.
"Agent Tanner updated you about the missing items?"
"Yup. Josiah told me about you missing notes," he confirmed. "And the looped footage."
Chris was concerned about that bit of information. Hopefully, JD had something for him about that. There was no need just yet to alert Security. If anyone else got wind of this, their magpie could spook.
"Then Agent Sanchez told you about…"
"Your replacement notes?" he smiled knowingly. "Darlin', let me make something clear," he leaned forward. "I'm not Lowe, who is probably someone who wants everything done a certain way. That means that I'm not going to come after you for something that happens outside of your control. If that means that I'm going to be getting pastel pink or neon green sticky notes, then I'll gladly take it. You don't need to be strictly by the book when it comes to this team. I don't mind having notes in colors other than white or yellow. Just make sure that I can read it. And another thing," he picked up an old yellow post-it. "I don't require you to use black ink. Heck, Tanner over there can't go a day without writing something in that light green ink he's got. I don't mind that, but it should only be between the team. Understand?"
Hopefully, she would be inspired to be a little creative with her delivery.
Chris would be the first to admit that he wasn't used to such cut and dried way of communication. All of the boys had a way to put their personalities in the notes that found their way all over the place.
As much as she might pretend she didn't, the boys knew that there was a personality in there somewhere, but they didn't know what it was or how to get to it. Chris telling her to be creative would not only prevent her from lingering over small things, but he hoped that her elusive personality would make some sort of appearance.
AJ nodded thoughtfully as she set a couple files on his desk. She used Josiah's purple notes, but still with black ink.
"These will be fine," he approved. Since the Auction, the boys kept mum about the quickly passing month so as to not hurt her feelings or make her think they wanted rid of her once and for all.
It was quite the opposite.
Glancing at the time, Chris felt a bit of victory as he noted their weekly team lunch was about to begin. Standing, he told AJ to finish her rounds and then get ready to go to 'their' restaurant.
Outside, the boys were starting to gather their things or get to a stopping point.
Besides the donuts twice a week, the team made it a point to have lunch together at least once a week if at all possible. Within twenty minutes, the team – all eight of them – was on their way to the Saloon to try the last week's lunch again.
Settling at their usual table, Josiah turned to AJ. "You did remember to have lunch with Allen earlier this week, didn't you?"
"Yes, si-" she cut herself off, glancing at Nathan. Remembering last night's conversation, she tried again. "Yes, we did. Thank you for asking, Josiah."
Buck felt a grin cross his face as he peeked to see the bigger man's thunderstruck expression. It was the first time she'd called any of them by their first name. Buck, however, was certain that Nathan had had a word with her last night if the approval on his face was anything to go by.
It took a second for Josiah to complete his thought. "Was there any updates on how your team is doing?"
"Agent Allen said that they were going to help a different team with one of their cases. He said not to expect him next week."
"Hope everyone comes back in one piece," Nathan deadpanned, knowing his own team's track record.
"Funny man, Jackson," Vin groused good-naturedly, being the main magnet for trouble.
"If the shoe fits," he grinned in cheeky response.
Ezra noticed JD's frown and asked, "What seems to be the trouble, Mr. Dunne?"
"Yeah, kid," Buck nodded as he leaned back in his chair next to AJ. "Any word on our magpie?"
"Although, I do not quite recall any of the three objects in question being referred to in any matter of reflectivity," Ezra interjected.
"In English," Buck sighed.
Nathan was about to respond, but AJ beat him to it. "Ezra means that none of the stolen objects had any kind of shine to them."
"Not bad, Darlin'," Chris smirked. "Seems like you'll understand Ez with no problem."
"Hardly, Mr. Larabee," said Southerner sniffed. "Ms. Johnson clearly possesses a natural affinity for the spoken word."
"Yeah, but wait until you try that on her when she's been running on caffeine for the past week and she's this close to a migraine," Buck pointed out. "I'd shoot you, too, if I needed quiet real quick."
Ezra didn't take the jab to heart as he was well aware of his habit to talk unlike his compatriots. Yet, for all their grousing, he knew without doubt that they accepted him.
A few minutes later, they found themselves looking for something to talk about which was appropriate for a female like AJ to listen to.
"So," Buck sighed. "JD. Have you told'em about that book you picked up from Casey?"
"Oh, yeah," JD bobbed his head up and down. "Yeah, it's an awesome book. The plot is so well developed and the characters are so well-written. I'd like to read it at the office, but I could end up reading it all day."
"I think it's a kid book," Buck told them. "And a girl book, besides."
"But it's got something for everybody," JD protested. "I just don't understand why someone hadn't said anything. Just because the author supposedly wrote it in high school doesn't mean it's not as good as some of the other, more experienced, fantasy books."
"I like a good fantasy book," Nathan jumped in. "But I like a good mystery, too. What about you, AJ?"
Chris winked at the medic, knowing what he was up to. "A murder mystery's always good," he drawled.
"Historical thrillers," Josiah admitted.
"That Dan Brown fella writes a good book," Buck fondly remembered Angels & Demons and the Da Vinci Code.
"I liked his book Deception Point," AJ offered.
"I myself favor science fiction," Ezra confessed, much to their surprise. Even after all this time, they still had a lot to learn about the Southerner.
Vin lifted a finger. "Native American stories. And I like stories about Westward Expansion."
AJ looked at their expectant expressions and frowned. "You don't like Western stories?" she seemed genuinely curious, which Chris was happy to see. She was showing emotion.
"This is about last week, isn't it?" Nathan grinned. Seeing the others turn to look at him, he explained about AJ's friend telling her that the story of the Magnificent Seven inspired the Japanese film, which was based on actual people in the American West.
"I've never heard that story before," JD smiled slightly. "It's an interesting version, to be sure."
"I just find it hard to believe that the 'Magnificent Seven' doesn't read Western," amusement colored her tone and made her eyes lighter, which glanced around at the decorations.
"Yeah, alright, Darlin'," Buck conceded. The others hid smiles as they exchanged looks. Maybe Nathan asking her to call them by their first names was starting to warm her up. At least her amusement was genuine. "Ya got us."
"It's not that we don't like the genre," Josiah told her. "And we should, by all means, but we've never actually thought about it."
"Why?" JD frowned. "AJ's got a point. We're constantly being compared to these movies and, well, the Saloon… Why've we never managed to get into the Western genre?"
This started a conversation ranging from genres to sports, but Chris noticed that AJ seemed to be content listening to them instead of joining in. At least her eyes were still lighter than he was used to seeing them. Chris kept studying her as they finished lunch.
'She doesn't like whatever vegetable that is,' he noted, watching her avoid some sort of green vegetable in the dish that Ezra had ordered for her. Health conscious, she may be, but she evidently didn't eat all of it. Nathan was eating his own dish – not wanted her to feel left out – and seemed to be studiously avoiding the same vegetable.
"What is that?" JD wanted to know, having also been watching them.
"Something you wouldn't catch me eating," Nathan told him firmly, AJ nodding in agreement.
"Why, Darlin'," Buck smirked, draping an arm across the back of her chair. "What did that poor thing do to you?"
"My cousin made me eat it once," she told him. "It didn't turn out well."
Deciding that they were going to hold off on any family talk until they got to know her better, Chris nodded. "That would do it."
Chris was happy with the way things were going, and they went very well. There was some progress that he felt was made, but – as with all things – that came to an end as they were finishing up.
AJ had been all ready to go, when Josiah pointed out that she was the only one that hadn't been to visit the bathroom. It could have just been them, but it seemed like she was confused about why she was being shooed in the bathroom's direction.
Surely, she needed to do something in there? The boys had observed the 'bathroom trips' with the many other women in their lives, for one reason or another.
Maybe AJ forgot.
They were waiting for her to come back when Ezra suddenly felt a pair of eyes boring into his back. Looking up, he found Inez staring at him. When she realized that she had his attention, she immediately waved at him to come over.
"Hey, Ez," Vin frowned slightly. "Inez don't look so good."
The Seven immediately abandoned their table to discover the problem.
"What seems to be the problem, Inez?" Chris frowned at the relief on her face as they approached. A sinking feeling made itself known as she just pointed them toward… the women's restroom.
Buck immediately raced down the hall and found AJ in the grip of an unfamiliar male.
"Excuse me, sir," Ezra immediately appeared, shooting Buck a warning look. As much as he himself wanted to tear him off of AJ, Ezra knew that violence would need to be a last resort. "May I be of assistance?"
"That son of a bitch killed my sister," he growled, shaking AJ, who winced at the hard grip on her arm. "And mark my words, missy," he hissed at AJ, "he's going to kill you, too."
"Sir-" Ezra began, only to have the bigger man thrust AJ into him as he brushed past. Ezra immediately gathered the brunette to him for protection from further attack and squeezed her to tell her that he was there to keep her from further harm. "Are you injured, Ms. Johnson?" he ran careful eyes over her as Nathan moved in.
She shook her head, watching Nathan – who'd seen the man grabbing and shaking her by the arm – undo her cuff and roll it up to expose her elbow area and inspect the already forming bruises.
Inez let them use the empty party room for privacy, standing by to get whatever Nathan needed.
"Who was that creep?" JD was torn between tracking him down and making sure that AJ was really alright as he hovered near AJ and Nathan.
Inez shook her head. "He was at the end of the bar, drinking a beer," she told them. "It was only when I was coming back to get some more ingredients that I realized that he had gone."
"He was waiting for me when I got out," AJ added, letting Nathan take her pulse. "I was on my way back when he grabbed me and told me not to give in. You heard the rest."
"You recognize him?" Vin frowned.
AJ sighed and shook her head. "No… but I get the feeling that I'm probably supposed to. I can't shake the feeling that I've seen him before. I don't know where, but I have."
Nathan finally relaxed and patted her on the shoulder. "You'll be fine," he concluded. "I have some lotion back at the office you can use."
"I'm alright, Agent Dunne," she turned to him. "You don't have to hover."
She'd gone back to using their titles, but Chris understood that she was a little shaken up, even though it seemed like she wasn't ruffled at all.
"Are we going to go after him?" JD looked to Chris.
"Didn't do much harm," Chris carefully studied AJ to make sure that she was as fine as she thought she was.
"Can we just go back to the office?" AJ carefully prodded her arm.
"That would be for the best," Nathan nodded. "Get your mind off the excitement."
"But I wonder who he was talking about," Buck mused.
None of them had any idea, but – as they left – none of them took notice of the figure slipping out the alley door of the Saloon.
"Yeah, it's Blake. Listen, I think we need to initiate Plan B. Yes, that Plan B. No, no. I've recently come across an interesting bit of information and would like to follow up on it. Yes. Not just yet. Yes. I think your source may be on to something, but… Of course. 'How?'" he smiled slightly as he hurried from the alley. "Oh, you just leave that to me."
** Later
After all the excitement at lunch, the team once again immersed themselves in reports.
Ezra disappeared for about an hour after coming back to the office, but no one was really worried as he came back with a latte for himself and a small smile on his face.
JD was thinking about the favor he still had to ask AJ to do, but was at something of a loss.
Nathan had already done his favor and Vin's was tomorrow. Not to mention the fact that AJ still had to perform some kind of favor for her secretary friends…
JD grabbed his small planner and traveled through the office doors to see AJ typing something up. "Hey, AJ? Can I talk to you?"
"Of course, Agent Dunne," she paused to look up at him.
Nathan had told them about asking her to call them by their first names off the clock, but JD still didn't like being called 'Agent' by someone who was supposed to work this closely with them.
"I know that I have to get you to do a favor for me, but I honestly don't know what favor to ask you to do," he ruefully admitted.
AJ tilted her head, studying him thoughtfully. "I think the first question to ask yourself is what interests you?"
"I don't want to make you do something that you don't want to do," he told her.
"I don't have a choice," and she seemed like it didn't bother her at all! JD couldn't help thinking that there was something wrong with her nonchalance. If it were him, he would have made some ground rules about what he would and wouldn't do. It was strange, though.
Ever since she ended up with them, it was like she didn't challenge them, following docilely like a lamb with whatever they wanted. She acted like her opinion didn't matter.
Well, JD was going to prove her wrong.
Thinking for a minute, he set his planner on her desk and went to get his chair. Settling in, he leaned back and crossed his arms. "There's nothing really going on," JD pursed his lips. "No movies I want to see or anything."
"What about the newspaper?" she thoughtfully suggested.
"Yeah! Maybe there's something in the paper we could do, or at least an idea," he jumped up and raced to the breakroom, almost running Josiah down on his way.
"Easy, Brother," he rumbled.
"Sorry, 'Siah," he called. "Has anyone seen any newspapers?"
"Doin' papier-mâché, Kid?" Buck laughed.
"No, me and AJ are going to pick something for her to do."
"That's one way of doin' it," Vin agreed. "That leaves Josiah, Chris, Buck and Ezra."
"And Ms. Johnson's compatriots," the Southerner reminded.
JD was busily rifling through drawers and the cabinets and was about to try his luck in the supply closet attached to the breakroom when the lights suddenly went out.
"Hey!"
"What's goin' on?" he heard Buck from the other room.
JD felt around for the wall and slowly walked to the breakroom door. Outside, he heard the others moving around in confusion. "Is everyone alright?" he called out.
"Dandy," Buck huffed.
Ezra managed to get to the blinds of the window making up almost half of the wall next to his and Vin's desk, and opened them.
"That's better," Nathan sighed as Chris opened his door.
"Someone better have a good story for this," he scowled, glaring at all of them. His own window was letting in light as well and they noted the sunset.
"The emergency generators should've kicked in by now," JD frowned.
"Didn't they just check the generators?" Nathan asked him.
"They should have," he answered, confident enough of the light to let go of the wall and headed over to his desk. He picked up his phone and shook his head. "Looks like everything's down. Lights, power, phones…"
"Security should still be up, though," Vin got up from his desk. Sighing as the generators still hadn't come up, his gaze traveled to the half open office door and saw a flashlight beam sweep the floor. "Darlin', you okay?"
"I'm fine," she called back, stepping into view with a flashlight in hand.
"Well, what now?" Buck looked around at them.
Chris turned at the sound of his cell ringtone and left the others to answer it.
"I wonder what happened," Josiah mused, leaning back in his chair.
"I don't know," JD ran a hand through his hair. "If the power goes out, the back-ups should kick in after a few minutes. But those didn't. And we should at least have a dial tone on the phone network, but we don't have that, either."
"And you said they just did a check on the back-ups."
"Yeah, or they should have. It's a good thing Security's still up or we'd be completely screwed."
"And sittin' ducks dead in the water," Buck stood with a sigh.
Chris came back out of his office. "Travis wants us to evacuate the building. Evidently, it looks like the sprinkler system malfunctioned, bringing the power down with it. And they found a leak in the fuel line, which explains what happened to the generators."
Buck whistled lowly. "What a day, huh?"
"The odds of such a convenient chain of events are low, but they do occur," Ezra crossed his arms as he looked at the others. Seeing AJ's frown, he hastened to assure, "Not to worry, Ms. Johnson. The problem will be solved in time for Monday."
But AJ shook her head. "It's just… This all seems a little too convenient, doesn't it?"
"Darlin', are you suggestin' that someone did this on purpose?" Buck shook his head. "Why?"
"Just a thought, is all."
"It can be just an accident," Nathan told her. "You don't have to automatically think it's a sabotage attempt or anything."
"Rarely has anything been 'just an accident'," she muttered, probably not realizing that Ezra was close to her and could hear her words.
JD tilted his head and saw that she seemed to have her heart set on this not being accidental. Remembering his earlier thoughts, he shrugged. "Well, whatever it is, we should probably go."
They gathered up their things and met out in the hall, Chris firmly locking the door behind them.
"Er, Darlin'," Buck suddenly frowned at her. "Why exactly do you have a flashlight?"
She lifted a shoulder, setting it down to rummage through one of her desk drawers. "I always have some handy," she withdrew seven more, all in silver grey.
"Why do you keep flashlights in your desk?" he raised an eyebrow.
AJ stared up at him before blinking. "…habit?"
Buck turned to the others. "She keeps flashlights in her desk out of habit," he deadpanned.
Chris shrugged, "Works for me." He reached out to grab one.
"There are worse things to have around," Josiah commented, handing the lights out to the others.
The group headed down the hall toward the stairs and saw others making their way to the lower floors by aid of their phone screens, key chain flashlights and other types of light sources.
"Yo, Johnson!" one of the twins hollered as Arina and Tammy climbed down the stairs toward them. "You're alive."
"We tried to reach you," Tammy told her.
"The phones are down," JD shrugged.
"How many more are up there?" Chris wanted to know.
"A good crowd," one of the twins – or was it the same one? – told him. "Travis wants to see you, by the way."
"Any idea why?"
"We figure it's about the power or somethin'," the other shrugged.
Chris nodded slightly as he turned to the team. "Make sure these girls get out alright. I'll see you tomorrow."
They waved him off as he went against the crowd and they joined it.
"If it was any other circumstances, we'd end up going down the evacuation route," JD told AJ. "Now, we're supposed to go to the lobby and get checked out to leave."
"Each floor's got their own routes," Arina added. "A bunch of personnel have the same routes to take so that we don't have people spread out all over Denver. When a group reaches the end, the top ranking person there has to check in with Security. Maybe we'll get to go over the routes before you go."
Buck, listening in from in front of them, frowned and was about to ask 'go where?' until he remembered that AJ was on loan. He was wondering why the idea didn't sit well with him, when they came out of the stairwell and into the lobby.
There, Security was checking them off as they reached the entrance to the parking garage elevator and stairwell.
"I don't see any of the other team leaders," JD looked around. A passing agent told him that none of them came down, all supposedly with Judge Travis.
"Wonder why," Josiah frowned.
When the group got their turn at check-out, there was a commotion on the stairs before a Bureau Girl raced out and headed straight for them. "AJ."
She looked up and nodded. "Taylor."
"Is your license plate DIHC?" she wrung her hands.
"…why?" AJ studied her.
Taylor just looked at her, eyes saying what she couldn't.
"Taylor," she frowned, "I have seen that look before and it's pretty obvious that when someone asks that question, the other end does not fare well."
Taylor just took her hand and led her to the stairs with the others following. "I'm so sorry, but… we just found it. I don't know who or what they were trying to say, but…"
She led the group down to the second level where there was a sizable crowd gathered around a vehicle near the middle of the huge space.