CAN I GET A WITNESS?
CHAPTER 11: CABIN FEVER
OXOXOXOXOXO
AN: Oops! Forgot to put in my usual AN. Here it is. You're welcome.
"So, we can go home yet? Walter said there are more arrests being made every day."
Cabe hated to burst the kid's bubble, but he wouldn't lie either. "Not quite yet, son. Soon, I hope."
The Homeland Agent dug another night crawler out of the cup of dirt and threaded it onto his hook. Ralph made a disgusted face and Cabe chuckled. "It's not up to me what the fish are in the mood to eat and you aren't having much luck getting them to bite what's on your menu."
He cast the line in a perfectly executed arc and the baited hook made a satisfying 'bloop' noise as it landed right where he wanted it.
Ralph frowned down at the bobber below his bare feet which were dangling from the dock where the two of them sat. The stupid bobber refused to move. Not one tiny dip. "But garlic cheese and marshmallows were listed as acceptable forms of bait on all the fishing websites I read and I didn't have to impale an insect, minnow or…" he wrinkled his nose at the worm-filled cup between them, "annelid on my hook."
Cabe grinned and bumped his shoulder against the boy's. "If you're grossed out by a few worm guts, what're you going to do when we have to clean these fish I'm catching?" He tilted his head indicating the Styrofoam ice chest full of bass.
"Probably never eat again for the rest of my life." Ralph sighed. "I sure wish we could go home."
"Me too, son. Me too."
The sky was so blue it hurt his eyes to look at it, so Ralph stared at its reflected color in the lake instead, the brilliant sunshine winking back at him from the occasional ripple. His eyes tracked a bird's shadow gliding across the smooth surface of the water. Insects whirred and chirped all around them. The combination of their droning, the bird calls and the sun blazing down on his neck and the top of the baseball cap his mother insisted he wear left him feeling drowsy.
There were few advantages to this isolated existence. Fishing with Cabe was one of them. At least no one could accuse Ralph of being an 'indoor cat' here where he'd spent hours perched on the end of a dock listening to his honorary grandfather talk about his exploits as a young man in the military or his tales of the weirdest things he'd ever seen working for law enforcement, including Walter's arrest when he was eleven. Ralph liked that story best of all.
It was certainly different from frenetic life in LA. Or even that time the whole team was stuck on an island right after his parents had finally gotten together. During that 'adventure', when they weren't bickering, they were all constantly scrambling for food and water and trying to figure out genius ways to get back to civilization before they starved.
Here and now, they had time to be lazy and let things unfold. Most of the time it was terribly boring.
Of course, Ralph still worried about his parents' relationship falling apart, because the forced isolation and inactivity was driving Walter completely nuts.
oOoOoOoOoOo
An old ceramic ashtray hit the wall and smashed scattering shards all over the kitchen counter and floor.
"This internet connection sucks!"
Paige peered cautiously around the bedroom door. "Walter? Is everything okay out here?"
He wore the scowl of a truculent three year old. "No." His expression cleared when he looked up at her. Standing abruptly, he held a cautioning hand up in her direction. "Don't come in here. I need to clean up my mess first. I don't want you to step on something and cut yourself."
He grabbed the broom and dustpan from the pantry and began to sweep as Paige leaned a shoulder on the door frame and watched, her lips curving into a playful smile. "What did that poor ashtray ever do to you?"
"Nothing. Wrong place. Wrong time." He answered, shaking his head. He dampened a paper towel and began brushing the pieces from the counter into the dustpan. "I thought you were napping."
"I was. Then there was this loud crash."
"Sorry." He winced then tipped the whole mess into the garbage. "You might want to go back and get your shoes. I may not have gotten it all."
As Paige ducked back into the bedroom to get her flip flops, Walter slumped back into his chair at the kitchen table and glared at the laptop. "I haven't heard anything from the team all day," He called out so she could hear from the other room. "I need frequent updates! How can I know if they've tried to contact us if I can't keep the internet connection up and running? It's like living in the Dark Ages here."
Paige crept up to him and slid her arms around his neck from behind. She pressed her cheek to his hair then kissed his temple. "Maybe it's okay to not be plugged in all the time. I don't think much has changed since you contacted Sylvester last night."
He perked up a little. "Maybe we should go into town and see if the stupid, inadequate Wal-Mart has something I can repurpose for a signal booster…"
"No, Walter. Low profile, remember? Just until the situation resolves. It shouldn't be long now. Plus, we're also running a little low on funds at present. We're down to stale bread, peanut butter, rice and beans. Oh, and fish if Cabe and Ralph have a good day."
"I hate Minnesota," the frustrated genius grumbled. He shoved the laptop away grumpily.
"Let's go for a walk," Paige suggested. "Soak up some of that good Vitamin D."
Walter heaved a big sigh but got up and headed for the door anyway. "Did you know we don't technically get Vitamin D from the sun? That's a common misconception. In actuality, when your skin is exposed to sunlight, your body makes Vitamin D from cholesterol." Together they stepped out into the hot summer day. He offered her an unsure look. "Oops. Sorry. Science facts again…"
Taking his hand and lacing their fingers together, she replied with a grin. "That's okay. I like it because I like you and I love how your mind works." Paige tugged him close and kissed his lop-sided smile. "I'll tell you if it ever gets to be too much. I promise." She crossed her heart with her free hand. Nowadays she pictured Walter patiently sharing his love of science with their toddler and she couldn't get enough of that idea.
oOoOoOoOoOo
Allie was drowsing on the couch. There wasn't much else to do. The beans were soaking. The little houseboat was as clean as it was going to get. She'd washed the sheets. They were hanging outside to dry. There was nothing like drying in the fresh air to make your bedding smell great. But it wasn't quite there yet. She'd read everything in the house which included a well-thumbed New Testament, a Farmer's Almanac from 1992 and a beat up copy of The Complete Minnesota Angler's Guide.
Cabe was still out fishing with Ralph. The mental image made her heart lift. What a great capacity for love her boyfriend had. It was incredible.
Paige and Walter had gone for a walk. Probably in an effort to keep Walter from drowning himself in the lake. Out of all of them, he was the one having the hardest time with the close quarters and lack of modern conveniences.
An urgent beeping noise emanated from the half-open lap top on the kitchen table. It was enough to startle her fully awake. At first she ignored it thinking it might simply be a low battery or an email notification. When it beeped again, she considered for a minute and figured she might as well check it out.
She opened the screen fully and the first thing she saw was Happy and Sylvester's beaming faces. Streaks soon appeared across their noses then moments later the image warped further and froze.
Seconds later, they were both waving frantically.
"Can you see us? Allie?" Sylvester asked, continuing to wave.
"Yes. I see you. I'm here," Allie answered at the same time the connection was lost entirely. Suddenly she had more sympathy for Walter and his rants over the tech issues.
Whatever they had to report was obviously important. They did seem excited rather than upset, didn't they? Allie jiggled the cables in the router like she'd seen Walter do on numerous occasions. She even unplugged the microwave just in case.
Oh how she wished they'd try back.
"ALLIE!"
She heard her name and rushed over to the computer again.
"It's over!" Sylvester cried and went dark again.
It's over? What did that mean exactly? Their lives? Was he warning them? Or the ordeal? Could they go home? Allie was afraid to hope but her foolish heart thumped regardless as she picked the computer up and walked around the room trying to reestablish the connection.
Suddenly the mathematician was back. "They got…!" The sound glitched. "Allie? Did you hear me?"
"Got who? Hang on! I'm going to get Ralph!" Allie yelled at the screen even though she knew the reason they couldn't hear each other had nothing to do with volume.
She sprinted out the door and down the dock. "Ralph! Come help! The gang has news but I can't make the computer cooperate."
Immediately the teen dropped his fishing pole and dashed toward the houseboat. He grabbed the laptop and began fiddling with settings. Finally he connected it to the router with an Ethernet cable and the sound and picture stabilized.
"Ralph!" An over excited Sly gushed. "You can come home now!"
Cabe burst through the door in time to hear Sylvester's announcement. He looked at Allie and asked, "What's he talking about?"
The mathematician burst into delighted laughter. "We got him! The head of the organization. Using Walter's facial recognition software. We caught him trying to leave LAX in a private jet. The authorities just picked him up not ten minutes ago. With him in custody, you guys are safe. You can come back."
Ralph blinked at his friend's face, automatically scanning for deception markers like Toby taught him. He swallowed hard as a film of tears blurred Sly's face. "Do you mean it? Really?"
"Really," Happy confirmed with a nod.
Eyes still dazzled by the brightness of the outdoors, Paige and Walter stepped inside the house. Ralph handed the computer off to Allie and made a beeline for his mom and dad. He caught them around their waists with one arm around each of them and he buried his face in the narrow space between their shoulders.
"It's over," the boy whispered. Then repeated it with more conviction as if to convince himself. "It's all over."
After embracing enthusiastically, Cabe and Allie left to grab the fishing gear from the dock, hands locked together and swinging back and forth between them. Now and then they would exchange identical happy smiles. It was all going to be fine. Better than fine.
For a few minutes, Walter collected all the details he could get from his ecstatic team back in LA. They'd finally taken down the entire operation. The whole thing began to unravel with the arrest of the hired thugs back in Idaho coupled with the information and evidence the team had already collected and turned over. Scooter had been essential in the capture and in confirming the identities of the would-be assassins. Those two readily gave up the ring-leaders for the chance to stay safely in an Idaho prison away from their ruthless employers.
Because of Scorpion's extensive work on the case and the cyber noose technology they'd perfected years ago on another case, they now had a brand new contract with the State of California Corrections Department monitoring and limiting communications within the prison system to ensure people on the inside had no contact or control of organizations on the outside. Not only would they be able to keep tabs on those involved with ordering the hit on Ralph, they could ensure the safety of other whistle-blowers as well. Not to mention, it would keep them in work for years to come.
But Paige would only allow Walter to focus on the technicalities for so long before she snatched him up and kissed him all over his face.
"We're going home! Walter, we did it!" she gushed.
Her enthusiasm was infectious. He wrapped both arms around her and twirled her in a circle.
Setting her down on her feet gently, he planted a smacking kiss square on her mouth and said, "Yes. It appears we should start packing our bags."
He grinned at Ralph, over her head, "If we're ready in fifteen minutes, we'll have a big party on the roof when we get home."
The boy was way ahead of him and sped to grab the duffle from under the bed.
"I want hamburgers with lots of pickles and cheese and a star party with both of our telescopes set up side by side and I want to check all the data we've collected from Cassie…" Ralph kept going on and on so Walter took advantage of the distraction to kiss Paige properly.
