"Saber?" Elaine says knocking on his door for the third time. "Come on, it's nearly nine. You really should get up." She opens the door to find the bed empty and made. She's just about to leave and close the door when she spots a paper on the dresser and goes over to read it:
Elaine,
Please do not be upset. We both needed some time away from everyone and everything to clear our heads after all that has happened. We are both fine. We will be gone for several days. We will call and check in after a few days, once we have a better idea of how long we will be gone. Please do not worry. We are safe and will be as careful as we can be. We hope you understand.
Saber and Amanda
Elaine folds up the note, placing it in her apron pocket. She leaves Saber's room and heads downstairs to the kitchen.
"Is Saber still asleep?" April asks.
"No, ma'am, evidently he and Ms. Kelly left sometime early yesterday morning. I thought it odd we hadn't seen either of them at all yesterday, but I thought they just wanted to be left alone. But after not seeing them this morning, and no sign of dishes being used, I went to wake Saber. Having no answer, I went into his room. They left a note saying they would be back in a few days. I know that Ms. Kelly was rather upset after the trial. Maybe she went to leave and he decided to go too. I'm not exactly sure. The letter wasn't too clear on the how it came to be that they left, just that they left."
"Who left?" Colt asks as he enters the kitchen.
"I'll give you two guesses, and the first one doesn't count, cowboy," April says.
"They ran off again?" Colt asks. April nods. "Amanda looked pretty worn out and upset the other night. Maybe he took her home or something."
The phone ringing causes everyone to jump. "Rider residence," Elaine says picking up the phone. Murmuring is heard. "No sir, neither one is here right now." Murmuring continues. "They left yesterday before anyone woke up. I don't know when they are coming back or where they went." More murmuring, "Aye, sir, we'll see you then. Good-bye." She puts the phone down, looking worried.
"What is it?" April asks concerned.
"That was Commander Eagle. He wanted to tell Saber and Ms. Kelly to stay put here. Evidently Mr. McCully's lawyer is not a good loser. He's afraid someone might try something."
"But Sean is in prison. Do you think his lawyer is that insane?" April asks.
"They are of course appealing the conviction and trying to get Mr. McCully released until a new trial is set up. He said that this wasn't over," Elaine replies barely a whisper.
"We need to try and find them," Colt says.
"I suppose we could try calling them," April suggests.
"Saber's phone is here. It was plugged in charging on his night stand. I've not been into Ms. Kelly's room yet," Elaine says.
"Forget about privacy. This is an emergency," April says as she heads up the stairs and enters Amanda's room. Looking around, she looks for clues as to where they've gone.
"Allow me. I used to be a bounty hunter, maybe I can figure this out," Colt says stepping into the room.
"What's going on?" Shinji says from the doorway. "Why is everyone in here?"
"Saber and Amanda took off at some point early yesterday morning. We don't know where they went to and Saber doesn't have his phone," April replies. "It doesn't look like Amanda really took anything with her, at least not that I can tell. So either they are staying somewhere she already has things at, like her place, or they are somewhere on the property."
"I don't see any sign of her phone, other than the cord to charge it," Elaine says.
"They must have stayed close then. That or they were in one huge hurry," Colt states.
"Has Sean escaped or something? Why is everyone up in arms over this?" Shinji asks confused.
They look for clues before heading downstairs and Colt tries Amanda's phone. "Phone out of range?! How?" Colt says slamming down the receiver.
The doorbell rings and Commander Eagle is escorted in, "Judging by the looks I'm getting, I suppose it's a safe bet that you still have not been in contact with them?"
"No, April replies. "It's been all day now and no sign of them. We've checked everywhere."
"Here's the note they left, sir," Elaine says passing it to him.
He reads it and sighs, "No clues either." Perhaps we can wait until tomorrow and try calling her phone again. Mr. McCully will remain locked up at least that long, so they should be fine for now. I don't think the lawyer will win on the allowing him to be free until the new trial, if he is granted one."
"Then why are you worried about their safety?" Colt asks.
"A couple of the guards came and told me they overheard some of the discussions the lawyer and Sean were having. They couldn't pick out much, but they said it sounded suspicious, so they reported it to me. He is now under tighter security as well. Everything he does and says is monitored and recorded."
"It's late, let's try and rest. We'll see if we can ping Amanda's phone signal at all when we try and call it tomorrow. Perhaps that will give us a clue as to where they are," April suggests. The others nod and they all retire to bed for the night.
The next morning everyone meets in the kitchen. Elaine is serving breakfast and no one is saying much.
"I've got my computer hooked up so we can try and trace Amanda's cell phone signal. Even if she doesn't answer, it should try and ping the phone's GPS location system. We should be able to get some idea of where they are at least," April says as she finishes her meal.
Commander Eagle nods, "We should try calling first. I don't want to panic them, but they should be aware of the situation."
"Yeah, we don't want to cause them to go further away; Amanda seemed rather upset," Shinji states.
"And Saber seemed rather concerned about her," Colt says. "I think there is more going on between them than they are letting on."
"Colt!" April says. "How much more could there be? Neither one is in any kind of physical condition to..."
"I'm sure they've talked about it at least," Colt interrupts. "Maybe that's why they went away. They didn't want anyone prying."
Elaine shakes her head, "I don't think that's it, Mr. Wilcox. If they do start a more physical relationship, that isn't our business, but I don't see them trying to run off to do so. Saber is in charge here, he pretty much can do whatever he pleases. I think the stress got to her and to him, so they wanted to go someplace quiet. They spend a lot of time talking." Colt gives her a disbelieving look. "Yes, talking Mr. Wilcox. She seems to understand him on a level that no one else does or ever has. I don't think she is in this for trying to raise her social status. I've seen her financial statements; she doesn't need to be with Saber. I think she truly does love him."
April look up confused, "If she doesn't need the money, then why did she take the job?"
Elaine chuckles, "Saber asked her that one time. She told him because it sounded like a challenge."
They all start laughing. "Now that is an understatement!" April says with a smile. "Saber isn't exactly easy to live with at times. None of us are."
"He has been a bit moody since losing his sight," Colt says. "But since she's been around, he's been more tolerable. She seemed to take the brunt of his bad moods, and yet she actually wants to be around him. That blows my mind."
"Love can make people do things, Mr. Wilcox," Elaine says with a smile.
"But does he feel the same way?" Robin asks.
Commander Eagle nods, "I think so. The way he is around her, the tone he uses when he talks to her, I think he is in love with her. I think they both were trying to deny it at first, but after everything that's happened, I think it's made them closer."
"I agree, Commander. I'm glad someone else sees what I did," Elaine says. "Sometimes I was tempted to just ask him outright, but I have stopped myself. The night at the hospital when they inadvertently admitted their relationship, I'm not sure they were quite to the point they claimed to be."
Commander Eagle laughs, "I got the same impression. I think Saber said more than he intended, realizing too late what he had said. Amanda didn't want anyone making the issue worse, so she stepped in and saved face." Elaine nods and he continues, "I talked to her for bit that night and she was rather noncommittal about the whole thing. But the next time I saw them together, it was obvious that there was something deeper there; so I figured they talked after no one was around."
"What did Saber say?" April asks intrigued.
"I had made a comment about him being a bit moody, and he snapped back saying something like, 'How would you feel if someone broke into your home and assaulted you and your girlfriend?' When Thomas, Elaine, and I all asked if he was referring to Ms. Kelly as his girlfriend, he sort of panicked, realizing just what he had said. Amanda covered for him rather quickly, saying that they hadn't wanted anyone to know yet or something to that effect," Commander Eagle replies, getting shocked and amused looks from the others.
"Oh I wish I had been in the room." Colt muses laughing.
"Okay, back to the current situation. We don't know where they are. We have an educated guess, but we need her address." April says trying to get everyone back to the present. "Father, can you get that for us?" April asks. He nods and heads to his room to retrieve the information. She then looks to Colt, "Can you try Amanda's phone again once we're in the sitting room and I get the laptop ready?" Colt nods. "Good, let's move to the other room." she says getting up and heading to the sitting room. She plugs in her laptop and some other equipment and starts booting everything up.
A few minutes later, Commander Eagle comes down holding some papers. "Here's her address, April." he says as he hands the papers to April.
"Well, at least we have it, although I have no idea how far that is from here," she replies looking over the papers.
Elaine comes over and looks over her shoulder, "That's about an hour's drive from here. Not a lot out that way for another thirty minutes past there for stores and such."
"A good place to go if you want to be alone," Shinji says.
"A good place to be attacked and not have anyone notice right away," Colt says quietly a menacing edge to his tone. The others look up. "What? It is. If I wanted to get a mark, I'd wait until they were off in a place like that. Less likely to put up much of a fight if they know help is too far away," he states matter-of-factly, getting a worried look from Elaine.
April starts to speak when Commander Eagle holds his hands up to quiet everyone, "No need to panic just yet. They both have good instincts, and I will be informed if there are any changes with the case or if his attorney or anyone else contacts Mr. McCully. The note they left said they would contact us in a couple of days, right?" Elaine nods. "This is the second day, so let's get everything set up to try and track her phone. Then after lunch, once I've talked with the people at Cavalry Command, if we still have not heard from them, we will try and track them down." Everyone shifts uneasily, but nods. "Okay, we're agreed. I'm going to make a few calls, then after lunch if there is still no word from them, we'll decide on our next course of action."
Later that afternoon they meet up again. "Now, can we try calling them again?" April asks impatiently.
Commander Eagle holds up a hand, "I should let you know what is going on with Mr. McCully. The lawyer is appealing the convictions. The judge however refuses to release him, saying that he is a flight risk, among other things."
"That's good, right?" April asks.
He nods, "It just means we don't have to directly fear him. However, I had some people looking into his lawyer. The lawyer is actually his uncle. So this is a family that takes the conviction personally."
"That explains the lawyer's attitude towards Ms. Kelly." Elaine says thinking aloud.
"Yes, and that makes me a little more uneasy about the two of them being off without some sort of protection," Commander Eagle says. "Now April, you set up to try and trace the call to Ms. Kelly's phone?"
"Yes Sir, I am," April replies and then turns to Colt, "Anytime you're ready, Cowboy."
Colt nods and takes the phone and dials Amanda's phone. Ringing is heard then voicemail picks up. "Damn!" He mutters. A beep is heard. "Saber, Amanda. If you get this, call home immediately. We need to know that you're okay." Colt says and then hangs up. "Did you track it?" he asks looking to April.
April nods, "It is not exact. I lost the signal, almost like they went into a place that's encased in metal or something."
"So where are they?" Colt asks impatiently.
"In the town Elaine was referring to about two hours from here," April replies. "But now that I've got her phone's signature, I should be able to see where they go once they come out of whatever building they're currently in."
"Good. Let me know if they start leaving the town and heading away from Amanda's place. I'm going to head towards her place," Colt says standing up.
"Colt, give me a few more minutes and I should get an exact ping on their location," April says. "It'll save time in the long run if you know the route they're on."
Colt sighs. "Fine, I'm going to go pack a few things. I'll come see if you've tracked them before I leave," he heads upstairs.
"So, can you actually watch their movements, April?" Shinji asks looking over her shoulder.
She nods, "Yeah. See right here?" she points to a blinking red dot on the screen. "That's their last known location." As she points to it, the dot turns green and starts moving. "Now they've started moving again. The dot is green when they are moving."
"Cool. It looks like they didn't go too far; should we try calling again, while the dot is green?" Shinji asks.
"Yeah, hit redial and see what happens. It's worth a try." She replies not looking up. Shinji dials and the phone rings once and goes to a fast busy signal. "The dot just vanished," April says annoyed.
"Not good," Commander Eagle says in a worried tone.
"It could just be that her phone died," April says trying to ease the tension that's building. "Remember her charger is still in her room."
About half an hour later Colt comes down in his armoured suit, a pack slung over his shoulder, and is obviously armed.
"Expecting much trouble, Colt?" Shinji asks looking him over with a smirk.
"I would rather be over prepared. I don't know who I'm fightin', so I would want to be ready for anything," Colt replies.
"Colt, I think your best plan is to head towards Amanda's. If you get there and it's obvious that they have been there, head towards the other town where they were last known to be. Maybe you'll get lucky and pass them on the road. It'd be rather hard to miss Donatello with two passengers," April says.
"I know how to track people, April," Colt says annoyed. "I did this for a livin'. I was considered one of the best on the New Frontier."
"I'm sorry, Colt. I'm just worried."
"I'll find them. I give you my word," He says nodding to her.
"Keep your com-link open. If we find any news or hear from them we'll let you know," Commander Eagle says. "Take care."
"Sir!" Colt says, then goes to Robin and kisses her lightly. "I'll be back." He turns and heads out the door.
Several hours pass and no word from anyone. Everyone is edgy. Elaine comes in and offers tea and cake, "We need to not focus on this; the waiting will mess with your heads. It's nearly dinner time now. The cowboy is probably on his way towards town now. Has anyone tried contacting him?"
"I'll try getting him on his com-link," April says and activates her link, "Hey cowboy, anything to report?"
A minute passes before a reply is heard, "So impatient. I didn't have any real news, so I hadn't called yet. I am fairly certain they are staying at Amanda's place. The house looks like it has been lived in recently. There is fresh food and lights on. However, they are not currently there. I found Donatello in an out building, so whatever mode of transport they are using, it's not him. I'm heading towards the town now. But there is a lot of traffic on the road, so there is a chance I've passed them, given I have no clue what type of vehicle to look for. It's getting dark, so I may stay in town tonight and do some poking around. Perhaps I'll find out where they've been and what they've been up to."
"Okay, Colt. I'm sorry for bothering you. I'll call back if we hear anything. We'll try and take the no news is good news approach. April out," she closes the connection. "Well, what now?" she asks looking to her father.
"As you said, take the wait and see approach. We know they have access to a safe place, and that they are eating, so we'll hope Colt catches up to them soon. As for now, it's getting late. I say we take turns watching the monitors and listening for contact from Mr. Wilcox. Tomorrow, we can decide what to do with any information he uncovers," Commander Eagle replies.
"I'll take first watch," April offers. "I'll be okay until one or two."
"I'll take the second then." Shinji states.
They all make arrangements and then head off for the night, leaving April to do her stretch of the watch.