Caine. POV
'I won't let you be alone.' I texted back. You got no response. I had to admit though, Jodie was quite the driver. She was well pushing 80mph on the highway. "West Mont Hotel." I said. With the long call I was able to pinpoint its location. "Got it."
"Where is he now?"
"I don't know. He sounded desperate. Possibly trapped." I said.
"What!? Why didn't you say so!? We need to hurry!" Agent Starling exclaimed.
"You have been!" Calleigh said desperately. She pushed the gas harder. Calleigh groaned, "Such drivingggggg..." She sounded so sick.
"Pull it together, Officer." Agent Starling said. Finally Agent Starling stopped in front of the hotel just in time to see a second Agent Starling, Agent Camel, Cali, and myself walk out of the building.
"Oh my god..."
I blinked. Not completely comprehending what I saw, "It's... Us." Is this what Conan is running from? Why he sounded so desperate? Crap. I called Conan's number. It rang. And rang. And rang till It hit the answer machine. A voice in Japanese took over, as I ended the call.
I hung up and tried again. Again. No answer. Did they get to him? This time I left one word, "Kyle." I hung up, "We go to my son's house."
CONAN POV.
I groaned. My head hurts... I turned on my flashlight watch and glanced around.
Oh that's right... Laundry shoot. I opened my phone. Two missed calls and one voicemail. I listened to the voicemail.
"Kyle." It said.
Kyle? Isn't he... Lt. Caine's son? Oh I get it! I stood up, the backpack a few feet away. It must of fell off on the way down. I pulled the bag up and onto my shoulder. Okay. Time to find a way out. There had to be some way out... I glanced around the room. There. A door. I ran over to it and pried it open. It gave right away. Yes!
I exited the shoot and closed the door behind me. Freedom. I immediately began to work my way to the house. Kyle's house. Hmm. Maybe a cab? Being on the streets after the truck incident is dangerous.
I began to look up taxi companies nearby. And put in for a cab. Using my bowtie of course. 20 minutes later one came up. The cab driver frowned looking around. I waved at the cab.
They blinked and rolled down their window, "Yes kid?"
"Can I get a ride? My mommy called and told me a cab driver was coming to get me." I asked in my bright child-like voice
"Oh, you're my passenger. You have any money?"
"Yeah! Mommy said not to give it to you till we get there though..."
"Okay. Hop in."
I opened the back door and climbed in. I told him the address as I put my seatbelt on.
He began to drive.
Caine POV.
I sat on the couch at Kyle's house. It had been an hour since the hotel incident. Jodie was impatiently pacing back and forth. I heard the door open and close quietly. I frowned, "Whose that?" I stood and walked to the door. I carefully peeked around the corner at the door.
There stood Conan. "Conan."
"How are you? Are you safe?" Just then Jodie came in and asked the same thing, "Conan?! Are you okay? Are you safe?!" He sighed.
"One person at a time." Just then Kyle came in, "Oh Conan. Are you okay?"
Conan groaned and I smiled.
Conan POV.
"Naze seikō wa, hitobito ga hitori de watashi o nokoshite inai nodarou ka...?" I muttered under my breath. "What?" The room collectively responded.
"N-nothing!" Responding quickly, in my child like voice. Jodie gasped, "Conan-kun! No need to be so cruel! We were only worried." I scowled. She scowled back.
"So..." I began
"So?" Jodie-sensei repeated.
"What next?" I asked.
"Take down the BO." She said.
"How do you exactly plan to do that?" I asked.
"Anokata is going to be in the country soon." She stated like it was he answer. Like it was that easy. "So? What's your plan? How will you get what you need? Do you know they're next move? What about the other members? How do you plan to keep them preoccupied, and not hurt your members? They won't hesitate to kill. What's plan B? What will you do if you fail? Your faces will become known to them and they undermine you in ways you'd never expect. See? You need a plan. And a good one." I stated, "One that will outsmart them."
"I was hoping that you could help us with that. After-all you've known about them before we did." Lt. Caine said.
"What?" I asked, "Who told you that?"
"Jodie did." He asked.
Do they know about Shinichi?
"W-where'd you get that idea?" I asked her.
"You weren't surprised that they existed." She replied.
"Well... Fine, yeah. But the FBI has been on the case." I agreed.
"I figured we'd ask the expert." Jodie-sensei said.
"Expert? Not by a long shot." I said.
"Conan. How do you even know about /them/?" asked.
That... Struck a chord. A voice screamed in my head, not to tell them. Well, at least... Not yet. "Don't you remember? I said I would tell you if there was ever a day they are gone." He smiled, "Sure."
"But still... What next? If we /are/ going to do something... Then we need to do everything we can now to prepare for it." I asked.
"And in order to do that, we need all the brain-power we can get. Including yours," Jodie-sensei replied.
"But I'm just a kid, what do I know?" He asked.
"Probably more than I do." Jodie-sensei said.
"But the FBI has been working this case for years." Well, I have been too technical...
"And you have at least longer than us. You're useful. We know how much of a genius you are."
"We may not know why. But we know that." Jodie-sensei said. Genius huh? I don't feel like it... "I'm no genius!" I replied nervously. "I-I screwed up!"
"And now..."
"Conan. We don't have time for mind games." Ran... I miss you... So badly... I wish you were here...
Caine POV
I stared down at the little genius who stood before me half my height. He seemed to be breaking down. Stress? No doubt. "It's okay. You don't need to mask yourself here."
"Mask? What mask? I'm Conan..."
"Conan..."
"What?" He asked.
"Don't do things that stress your body."
"Stress? Body? What are you talking about? I'm fine."
"Conan. Just... Don't lie."
"Don't lie? About what?"
He just sighed. He walked toward the living room. He's well guarded. Why? He's stressed. He's been hiding/running from an incredibly intelligent organization for who knows how long, using what he can to scrape by. He probably has not confided in anyone since then... I want to help him... But how could I?
I knew so little about him. He was so closed up, like a clam. A clam fighting the sea. It was... Frustrating to say the least. The rest of them came in and sat down.
Jodie POV.
"So..." I began.
"For starters, Kyle, I think that's your name right? Can you please leave the room? This information is confidential." He nodded, obeying. After he left the room. I said.
"Now before I begin... If anyone wants to back out now. Now would be a good time to do so." They nodded in understanding but none of them left.
"Okay then..."
"I think, firstly we need to..."
"We need more information." Conan stated, interrupting her. "We need to know what we have already and build from there," Calleigh suggested.
"Conan, you start. What do you know about them? Everything even if it seemed unimportant."
He began, "U-uhhh... Nothing you don't know already..." He trailed off.
"Just list it all anyway. Uhhh... They are a secret organization that likes to wear black. C-current members to date entitle, Gin, vodka, kir, bourbon, vermouth, pisco, irish, a-and Itakura. Their goal is unknown and they follow orders from someone named Anokata. Nanatsu No ko is a tune they use for identification. Etc."
"Nanatsu No Ko?" I frowned, "Irish? Pisco? Itakura?"
"Oh. Um I think it's 'Seven Children'?" he said in English.
"Seven Children..." I pondered over what it could mean.
"The last three are dead so... Not getting much from them..." He stated.
"Dead?" I asked.
"Y-yeah for a while too..." He replied.
"Who were they?" I questioned.
"Just dead codename members. Don't really matter at this point." Conan replied
"They /do/ matter. How did they die?" I asked, He was silent.
"We can't have any possible surprises later."
"One died of natural causes. The other two... Were shot by Gin."
"No surprises since... I was there when their deaths were confirmed."
"Shot?! You mean assassinated?! But they are on the same side!" I protested heatedly.
"They uhhh... Screwed up..."
"That's awful!"
Conan said nothing.
"That's... All I know..." He hesitated a little. Could he be lying? To what end?
"Next." I said. He obviously wasn't going to share anymore.
Calleigh began, "The only things I know about them are what you told me and that one videotape..."
"Which Jodie saw." She added.
"What about you Lt. Caine?" I asked.
"Pretty much the same. Apparently they are pretty believable when disguised." Lt. Caine said.
"Yes," I confirmed, "Next?"
"I think that was everyone." Calleigh said. Conan stood up from the couch and left the room without a word ever leaving his mouth.
"Now, we plan." I said.
"But what about Conan?" Calleigh questioned.
"He will join when he's ready." Lt. Caine said.