"Wheeler?!" Linka calls out to him as Amanda's dad cuffs her and leads her away.
"What's going on? She didn't do anything…other than deliver you your drug dealer…what more did you want? Her to tie him up in a big red bow?!" Wheeler asks as he follows closely behind.
"Don't worry kid, you're next."
Then another officer comes over and starts reading Wheeler his rights while cuffing him.
"But we did not do anything! We are not the criminals; we were working to find evidence that would prove Skumm was the one behind the drug dealing. It is not us! You must believe me!" Linka pleads.
"Perhaps you weren't listening, or maybe you don't understand English very well, but I just read you your rights. One of them was 'to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you' so keep talking if you want to incriminate yourself. Just makes my case against you even easier to build."
"But we…"
"Linka stop. Don't say anything else until you get a lawyer," Amanda advises.
"When did you become her legal representation?" Her father asks. "And I thought I told you to go home! Dominic, get her outta here."
"Daddy, you were wrong! Wheeler and Linka aren't the drug dealers! Just talk to them and get the facts. You don't gotta arrest them!"
"Amanda Michelle Sheridan! GO HOME OR YOU'RE GROUNDED…NO PHONE, NO COMPUTER, NO FRIENDS…and NO DOMINIC!"
Dominic puts his arm around her to lead her away and whispers,
"Come on Darlin'…We will go to their house and tell the other Planeteers what is going on. They can get Wheeler and Linka out of this better than we can. They'll handle it."
"Ok. Good idea," she says as they leave, turning to look at Wheeler and Linka to give them a concerned smile.
"It's ok Babe. This is all just a big misunderstanding. We'll get it sorted out and everything will be ok. We'll be home in no time."
She nods, wanting to believe him, but still scared.
"Make sure you put them in separate cars so they can't come up with the same excuses. We'll interogate them sepearatly and see if their stories corroberate " Officer Sheridan says.
"Wheeler!" Linka calls out to him as the officers get a little more forceful than necessary with him while they shove him into the squad car.
"It's ok Babe. I'll see you at the station. You'll be ok."
"Ok."
"Oh, and Linka?"
She pauses before she gets into the car to see what he wants.
"Just remember I love you," he says as the officer detaining him slams the door before she has a chance to respond.
He's still looking at her as her own door is closed and she mouths the words "I love you too" to him, making him smile.
Amanda and Dominic arrive at the Planeteers' temporary residence.
Gi answers the door, surprised to see the two of them and afraid that her presence at "Wheeler's parents' house" might have blown their cover.
"Uh, hi…Linka's not here right now. I don't know where she is…we were supposed to uh…have a meeting…with the exchange student agency…it's a monthly thing that we do. I can uh, tell her you stopped by and have her call you later."
"We know where Linka is…and Wheeler…that's why we're here…and we know that you're not exchange students…that you're Planeteers working undercover."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, Wheeler told us everything. He and Linka are in trouble. They've been arrested."
"What?!" Gi exclaims. "Come in. Tell us everything. KWAME, MA-TI, COME DOWN HERE! WHEELER AND LINKA NEED OUR HELP."
To Be Continued...
