Jack, Clara, and Teddy were sitting on the floor in front of the TV but only Teddy was paying any attention to what was on. It was 10 o'clock in the morning and the siblings were trying to distract themselves from the fact that the food they had run out this morning and there was still no news from their dad.

He said he would be no longer than two days, but five had already passed. Five long, boring days. They had been left home alone before but never for this long. Jack thought about a girl from his school who was put in foster care after her parents left her home alone for a month to go on a Caribbean cruise. This wasn't like that though? Was it? Jack knew that their dad would never intentionally abandon them but doubts had started to creep into his brain.

He knew his Dad was sometimes ill, although he never appeared physically injured. It's my mind Chris had told him, It's my mind that's ill. Jack knew that his Dad took pills to keep his mind healthy but he couldn't remember if he'd seen Chris take them since they'd been in America.

What if something bad had happened? What if Chris was hurt and in a hospital somewhere? He would've called Jack thought Or he would've sent someone to tell us he's okay. But what if something really bad had happened? Jack didn't know what to do. He'd tried to keep his thoughts to himself but he knew that Clara and Teddy were worried as well.

Jack knew that he should come up with something, do something, but everything he thought of had a negative consequence. Calling the cops was out of the question. They'd only get in the way and besides, Jack knew that whatever his dad's 'business' was, it wasn't likely to be legal. He didn't want to be the reason his dad got arrested.

If Jack was on his own, he might have gone out looking for his Dad as soon as he didn't come back on the second day. But he couldn't leave Clara and Teddy. What if they wandered off as well? He had to look after them. They were his responsibility.

Jack didn't really know what he was going to say as soon as he started speaking but he had to come up with a decision.

"We should go and look for Dad" he announced, more confidently than he felt.

"Dad said not to leave until he came back" replied Clara. "And besides, we can't just wander around - he could've gone anywhere!"

"I know, I know but-"

"He could come back any second and he would freak out if we were gone and -"

"Clara, we need food!" Jack interrupted her "I don't know if you've noticed but we really can't stay in this room. Dad said he'd be back days ago and we can't sit around waiting for something to happen."

Both Clara and Teddy looked at him but stayed quiet. Jack took a breath and then continued. "I have to look after you guys and I've already decided. We'll go to the store, get food and then try and find a library or someplace with WIFI. It shouldn't take too long and we can leave a note for Dad telling him where we are"

Clara was still unsure but she knew they had to do something. "Alright" she said. "Do you even have any American money?"

"Yeah, a little," said Jack. He pulled a crumpled $20 bill out of his pocket as well as a mix of British and American coins. "I don't know how much things cost but it should be enough for some food. Dad has paid for the room for the rest of the week so at least we don't have to worry about that"

"Can we buy chocolate?" asked Teddy who although didn't really understand what was going on with his Dad, he was excited about going outside. "We can go on an adventure!"

Jack smiled at his little brother and ruffled his hair. "Go and put your shoes on and we'll see if we have enough for chocolate"

When everyone was ready they filed out of the motel room, Jack being careful to lock the door behind them. He had left a note on the counter in case Dad came back and found them gone:

Dad, we are OK. Gone to the library and shop. We will be back soon, love from Jack, Clara and Teddy xxx

Teddy had insisted on signing his own name and his large uneven letters took up most of the sheet of paper. Jack hoped his Dad would get to read it. That when they came back to the motel he would be back and everything would be okay again. A part of him knew that it was unlikely but he quickly suppressed that thought and tried to think positive. He needed to be strong.

The first store they went into, they came out without buying anything. "10 dollars for a sandwich!" exclaimed Clara. "Absolute rip off". Jack agreed and hoped that one of the other shops on the street would be more in their price range.

Eventually, they found a large store called 'Target' and went inside. The air conditioning welcomed them as the sun glared outside the glass doors. The siblings were quite hot and sweaty walking down the road and it took a lot longer than it should have thanks to Teddy excitedly yelling "Dad!" to any man who walked by.

Jack wiped the sweat from his brow and took a shopping cart. He knew that it must look odd to people, that three young children were shopping by themselves but Jack hoped that if asked, he might get away with saying he was at least 14.

Luckily, no one approached them and they walked down the aisles with no one disturbing them. They stocked up on food including bread (for sandwiches Jack supposed), peanut butter, cans of soup, and ramen noodles. He knew it wasn't a great selection of food but there was an extent to what they would be able to prepare in the motel room. They also put various snacks in the cart although Clara had to stop Teddy from putting random things in. "We can't afford everything, Teddy!"

Confident that what they had was under $20 Jack made his way to the checkout and sent Clara and Teddy to wait for him outside. After paying, he asked the cashier if there was a library nearby.

"Uhh, yeah I think so, a few blocks away" the young man said. He had a nametag that said 'Jim' and had short spiky brown hair. "About 15 minutes in the car"

Jack thanked Jim and as he left he wished he'd asked for more specific directions. However, there was a line of people behind him and he didn't want to be a nuisance. Jack stood outside the exit and looked for Clara and Teddy. He spotted them nearby, standing in the shade of the building. Jack could feel the heat now that he was outside again and he wished that it wasn't so hot.

"Food time!" Teddy shouted as soon as he saw Jack approaching.

"Not just yet, we need to find somewhere we can sit down and eat." said Jack. They could return to the motel, he supposed, and then head out again to look for a library but that seemed too far out of their way.

"There was a park over the road," said Clara, pointing to a large grassy area. "We could have a sort of picnic"

"Picnic!" exclaimed Teddy "I should've brought my toys to play with," he said, "Can we go back and get them?"

"No Teddy, let's just eat. I'm starving!" said Clara.

The sun was shining brightly and the sky was a clear blue. As the trio entered the park, there were lots of families making the most of the good weather. Several people had barbecues and others were playing ball games. Jack and Clara sat down on the grass as Teddy headed straight for the playground. "Keep an eye on Ted, will you," Jack asked Clara, who nodded in return. "I'll try and sort out lunch".

Jack took the sliced bread and peanut butter out of his backpack. He decided on making peanut butter sandwiches for them and took out a small knife from his bag to spread the peanut butter. He was a bit embarrassed to say, but he'd taken the knife from the hotel room. It was only a butter knife so it wouldn't hurt anyone but Jack wanted at least something to defend himself with if he needed to. Jack would never admit it to Clara and Teddy but he felt really out of his depth. They had been left alone before, but this was a completely new country and he didn't have much money left. It was his job to look after his family now that his Dad was gone, but he sometimes wished he wasn't the oldest who had to make all the decisions. He wished he was the youngest, like Teddy. Happy to be playing in the sun without properly understanding what was going on.

He finished making the sandwiches and cut them into triangles. It wasn't an amazing meal but it was the best he could do. Teddy and Clara came back and they spent a few minutes eating and quietly enjoying the sun.

Jack was the first to finish and he organized the contents of his backpack. It was quite heavy now that he had the groceries in. He put the cans of soup and the rest of the food near the bottom, as well as a bottle of water which he took a sip from before passing it to Clara. He wiped the knife on his jeans and stuck it in his waistband. He knew it was risky, but he felt safer with it being easily accessible. Besides, it couldn't really hurt anyone, but it might make someone back off if Jack needed to.

He counted the money he had. $3.68 as well as a few British coins. At least the food they had would last them for a bit. He then looked at his phone. It was an old model and the screen was cracked. Unfortunately, it was useless in America and could only make calls in the UK. He had tried to call his Dad in the past few days but they wouldn't connect. At least when they found somewhere with WIFI he could try and message him online and try to find out a bit more information. His Dad had only paid for Internet access in the motel for the first few days of their holiday. It seems he'd forgotten to pay it after those days had run out.

Chris often forgot to do things. He'd forget to wake up and take them to school. He'd forget to pay the electric bill and be quickly reminded by the power cut in the middle of the night. Jack got annoyed with him sometimes, but would he really just forget his children in the middle of Washington D.C? Would he really just abandon them like this? Jack honestly didn't know, but he knew he'd have to keep Clara and Teddy safe until he knew what was going on. Jack made a list inside his head. Find food? Check. The next few steps relied on them being able to find a library. Go to the library, go online, try to message Dad, see if they can find out any information, try and find their uncle Cal Lightman and then (hopefully) find Dad.

They managed to find where the library was quite quickly thanks to a helpful old lady they'd asked on the way. It took almost half an hour to walk there though and they were feeling very tired. Teddy had begun to shuffle his feet and moan about being tired.

Finally, they had arrived. The trio was grateful for the cool air conditioning that greeted them as they entered the large modern-looking library. It looked like it was mainly full of high school and college students although there was a small children's section which Teddy instantly ran towards. Jack and Clara settled themselves down at one of the computers where they could still keep an eye on their little brother who was delightedly looking through the colorful picture books. Clara logged into the computer as a guest and waited for it to load. Meanwhile, Jack turned on his phone and connected to the free WIFI.

Notifications flooded in and Jack quickly sorted through them. A couple of messages from his friends on Instagram and Whatsapp group chats but none from his Dad. Jack sent a few messages to him: Where are you? Are you OK? We're doing alright but plz let us know where you are! You only said 2 days! Are you with Dr. Lightman?

Jack sent the messages and then tried to call Dad but he didn't pick up. He tried another time but still no luck.

"He probably doesn't have an Internet connection," Clara said, trying to be reassuring but Jack could tell she was worried.

They then tried to do a bit of research on Google. "Type Dr. Cal Lightman" Jack suggested and watched as the results loaded. They spent a while looking through numerous articles about his work.

"Apparently he works for the cops" Clara commented, "Seems a bit stuck up if you ask me, working for the feds and that" she added, pointing to a picture on 'The Lightman Group's' website with a man (presumably himself), surrounded by a younger man with dark, curly hair and two women, one older, the other more the young man's sort of age.

"Look!" Jack said, pointing to where the Lightman Groups address was listed. He quickly wrote down the address and then typed it into Google Maps. He sent a few screenshots of the map to be printed out and then collected it from the printer around the corner from where they were sitting, the paper was still warm as he examined it and then folded it in half.

Checking his phone one last time for a reply from Dad, he looked at his siblings and said, more confidently than he felt "Okay, let's go and find Dad!"

A/N: Hi again, sorry its taken a while to update this chapter but I hope you enjoyed it!

Thank you all so much for your lovely reviews - you inspire me to keep on writing and I hope you enjoy what my mind comes up with...

NOTE: I'm not from America so if I make any obvious mistakes (American words for things, things that don't happen/don't exist in America) then please let me know.

Again, thank you all so much! The Lie to Me fandom is still going strong :)

Ciao,

Tina

XOXOXO