Chapter 22.

[Friday, August 30th, 1985]


"Come on Ella!"

Kelly sighed as she looked at her watch one more time. It was just after 5 am, and her oldest daughter was not the morning person she had been as a kid. Sarah on the other hand was already in the car, buckled up and ready to go, excited for their trip.

Ella came slowly down the stair, glaring at her mother, hair ruffled as she had apparently gone straight from bed downstairs, barely bothered to change from her pajama. She dragged herself out to the car and sank down next to her sister.

"Ella, aren't you excited?" Sarah asked with a big smile as Ella buckled herself up.

"For what? Two weeks in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do?"

"There are alligators!"

"Two weeks Sarah. Two weeks."

Kelly rolled her eyes, going over everything again in her head, trying to remember if they had forgotten anything. She had packed clothes for them all, she had packed suitcases for her, both children and Aurore. She had packed several different pairs of shoes, she had packed boardgames for them to play, she had packed her gun and made sure it was safely tucked away in the bottom of the car, out of the children's reach. She had packed some food for the trip, snacks and water bottles. She had packed books and games suitable to play in the car. She had packed the camera and extra rolls of film and she had packed basically everything from the bathroom. She was set. Both kids were in the car. Oscar the dog was with Kris as he would be staying home, hating long drives. Kris would be watering the plants and taking care of her mail.

She took a deep breath and locked the door of the house. She was ready to go.

She got into the car, looking up at her two daughters with a smile before reversing out of her driveway, heading through town over to Aurore's restaurant, pulling into an empty parking spot on the backside of the house. The bar had closed about half an hour ago, and Aurore had decided to stay through the night which she normally didn't do. There were still people lingering outside, standing in groups smoking, someone holding someone up, one group laughing loudly on their way downtown.

They didn't have to wait long for Aurore who came scurrying out to the car, sliding down into the passenger's seat and gave Kelly a kiss before looking back into the car, both Sarah and Ella greeting her happily. Aurore greeted the kids before she smiled happily, leaning her head back.

"Good night?" Kelly asked, patting her knee gently as she maneuvered the car out on the street.

"Yes, very busy. Weird for a Thursday but I won't complain." Aurore smiled, closing her eyes. "Do you mind if I sleep?"

"Not at all, go ahead so you can take the wheel later on."

"Thanks." Aurore mumbled, a content smile spreading across her lips.

The car remained silent for a while as Kelly headed down the empty roads of their capital, the kids calm and Aurore drifting off. Kelly smiled to herself, enjoying the silence. But she had a nagging feeling in her stomach that something was amiss. It really felt as if she had forgotten something, but she could not figure out what it was.

The answer arrived about 20 minutes later when the car phone rang. Aurore didn't even flinch, and Kelly giggled to herself, figuring that Aurore must really be tired.

"Kelly here." Kelly answered, wondering who'd call her at this time of the day, guessing it to be one of her Angels as they were all awake and on route as well.

"Good morning Kelly."

"Hi Sandra. Everything alright?"

"Yeah, absolutely. We're just leaving your place."

"What?" Kelly frowned. "Why?"

"Did you by any chance forget something?"

"I do have this feeling that there is something I forgot but I can't figure out what it is."

There was a sound in the other end of the phone, phones changing hands.

"You forgot me!"

Kelly held the phone a bit away from her ear as Peggy shouted down the phone, voice very high pitched and very upset. Kelly put the phone to her shoulder and suffocated a laugh. Jeez. She had forgotten all about Peggy.

Kelly held the phone against her shoulder for a little while until she heard how Peggy's voice calmed down, Kelly trying to hold back her laughter to not upset her further.

"I am so sorry Peggy. I was a little bit stressed out. I'm really sorry."

"No you're not!"

"Yes, I am, really. Are you alright? Did you call Sandra?"

"I called Kamili to ask if I could ride on her bike."

"And she said no?"

"Yeah, how did you know? She told me I could ride with Morgan and Sandra instead."

Kelly laughed loudly, she could just see the look on Sandra and Morgan's faces when Kamili had told them at 5 in the morning that a very upset Peggy would be riding with them. Kelly knew she would have to make it up to them later on.

"Why didn't you call me? I would've turned back." Kelly asked, already guessing the answer.

"No, I'm angry with you. You left me!"

"Peggy, give Sandra the phone, will you?" Kelly chuckled.

The sound of phones changing hands were heard again, Sandra's voice back in the other end.

"I'm really sorry Sandra, I completely forgot about her. Are you guys alright?"

"No. You have to pick her up."

"No can do, sorry. But she can trade places with me on our first stop."

"Kelly!"

"I'll see you in three hours for breakfast."

"Kelly!"

Kelly laughed before hanging up the phone, shaking her head as she looked into the rearview mirror, happy to see how both kids had fallen asleep, leaning against each other. She was in a calm and peaceful car and she had no intentions on picking up the whirlwind that was Peggy who would most likely wake both kids. Now she could just drive for a few hours, alone with her own head as they headed down to Fargo in Georgia. She wondered what would happen down there, just wondering how much trouble they could all get into.

Aurore had told her it was a super quiet neighborhood and the worst trouble they could find would be if they upset Kamili's mother, Mrs. Lulu Sow. Not even Angels could find trouble down there. Kelly had just laughed at her, realizing that Aurore had never had a vacation together with all Angels and she had no idea just how bad it could become. Aurore had waved her off, telling her that she was just overreacting and some of Mrs. Sow's pecan pie would set her in the right mindset. Kelly was still worried, knowing Angels on vacation was rarely a good idea. They never, ever had good vacations, at least not when all of them took off together. Something always seemed to happen, they always ended up working a case. Thankfully though they always solved them as well.

She felt like she hadn't contributed much during this last case, but she was rather happy about it. When she had moved to Washington, she had told Charlie that she wanted out of the field, but somehow, she was always dragged back out into it. She preferred being the person in the background, taking care of the paperwork and being the connection between Angels and Charlie. She could spend more time at home with her children and she didn't have to put herself at unnecessary risks that could leave her children without a mother.

In the same time she couldn't help but to miss the old days now and then. There had been a lot of fun, crazy moments, already when they started in the agency ten years ago. She made a mental note to call Sabrina when she got the chance, wondering how she was doing and hoping to make the trip to the west coast soon enough to meet her old friend again. Or maybe invite Sabrina to Washington? She had been visiting a few times during the years, but she had been very busy as well with her husband, son and their farm.

She would love to get together just her, Sabrina and Jill and do stupid stuff like they used to do in the academy, but by spring Jill would be a mother of three and she knew things would change once again.

Kelly sighed at her own thoughts. She was happy with her life and the way it had turned. She had both Kris and Jill on the same street, and they met almost daily. She had Aurore who was the best thing that had happened to her, showing up at the perfect time in her life, just when she needed her the most. She had Ella and Sarah who brightened up every day of her life and she had three – no, four now – fantastic women to work with. She was excited to see where her path would lead her, but she couldn't help but to worry as well of what was to come.

Leaving the city and heading out on the interstate highway, she pressed the car up in a faster speed, enjoying the empty roads, the silence and the calmness, deciding to enjoy it while she could. As they arrived in Georgia she knew there would be a full house with all of Kamili's, Aurore's and Morgan's families, all of the Angels and kids. They would be busy.

And of course, having all of their family members, including the kids, made Kelly worry even more. She was almost certain that there would be trouble during their stay there, and she was terrified that the kids would accidentally end up in the line of fire. They would have to make sure someone was with them all the time, keeping them out of harm's way. But Kelly still had a bad knot in her stomach.

And the sound that came from behind her didn't really help to settle her worry either. It was a roaring sound of heavy engines, far off in the distance but coming closer in high speed. It was the thunder of three massive motorcycles, very soon coming up close to her car before going up next to it, splitting so they moved around it on both sides, stayed next to car for a moment before accelerating hard, all three bikes passing them in high speed, one of them going on the back wheel, before they disappeared in a cloud of dust. Kelly sighed loudly, shaking her head, hoping that none of those three would accidentally kill themselves or each other on the journey down to Georgia.


The trio on the bikes came up next to each other in the same lane, stayed next to each other for a moment, Kamili in the middle dropping down to two wheels again before looking over to Janet on her right and then to Madison on her left before she laughed inside her helmet and then accelerated again, pushing her Harley-Davidson XR1000 to do what it did best. Janet and Madison had no problem keeping up with her but staying on a row behind each other as they moved onwards down Interstate 95 as the sun rose over the outskirts of the city.

They had driven past Morgan's big car earlier, which seated him, Sandra, Yasmin and a very upset Peggy, as well as three dogs who were sleeping in the trunk. They had yet to pass Devin and Benjamin, the two of them had left early as Benjamin had decided to wake up at 3 am. The three Angels had tried to get Sandra on a bike, but it had been hopeless. She had been determined to join the caravan of cars, keeping the kids happy. Kamili, Janet and Madison had all made a bet though that they would get Sandra on a bike before the two weeks were up. The person owning the bike sat down on would win.

They were all to meet up in Emporia for their first stop, to have breakfast, feed kids, and change places in the cars to make sure drivers got some rest. But right now, they were all enjoying the empty roads and all of them were excited to get down to Georgia even if they knew they would be very tired upon arriving. Kamili was so happy to be on her bike though, and looking into her mirrors she couldn't help but to feel a bubbly feeling in her stomach as she saw Janet close behind her, and Madison behind Janet, both of them seeming to enjoy the ride as well. Kamili was so excited to be able to show them both, and all the others, her hometown and reminisce about the old days.

But with many hours to come, Kamili was now taking charge and setting the speed, allowing the wind to lead her onwards as she grinned happily in her big, black helmet. The late August weather was perfect, the roads were quiet, her friends and family were behind her, and she was heading home.

.

Oh, wanna swim in the sunshine
And every day find a way to face my fears
Oh, wanna get in the wind

Gonna take every chance I'm given
Feel the wind through the open plains
Freedom is a gift, get livin
Go chase that sunset highway down
You got to get uncaged

[Uncaged, Zac Brown Band]