CONGRATULATIONS roban05! Why, yes, of course! :)

?-?

"Now?" Sue asked.

"As soon as you can get here." Jack confirmed.

"Alright, I'll be there within the half hour." She replied, then hung up.

"Oooh, Sue's got a date." Tara happily teased.

"If you consider lipreading some potential hostages, you're correct." Sue replied, seeing what her friend had said.

"Oh." She replied, then smiled. "Nonetheless, you get to work with Jack!"

Sue smiled as she grabbed her things. "See you guys later." She said, then left the den.
Tara smiled, watching her friend leave. "She always has the most fun out of all of us. Good for her." She said to herself.

?-?

"Hi, guys. What do we have today?" Sue asked, walking into the surveillance van 20 minutes later.

"We were notified that the car on the right in the driveway there is used by a runaway meth dealer, so we're assuming there's a hostage situation, but the people inside look happy, and there's no dealer in sight. We want to know what they're saying." Mya explained.

"Why can't you just walk up to the door, knock and ask?" She asked.

"Because we promised the detective that is on the case we'd wait for him." Jack explained.

"And when will that be?"

He shrugged, looking at his watch. "Probably within 2 hours. He was taking the first flight out of South Dakota this morning, probably is landing about now."

"Did I read you right? South Dakota?" She asked, nearly interrupting him.

He nodded. "Yep. This perp is far away from home."

"Wow." Sue replied. "Where's the video feed?"

"Here." Mya replied, slightly moving her chair so Sue could sit next to her, straight on with the monitor that was showing the feed from the mini camera Myles was holding. Sue sat, and started analyzing.

"What are they saying?" Myles impatiently asked.

"Hold on a minute, she needs to get context!" Mya complained at him.

"They're talking baby talk to the baby." Sue described into the mic that was in front of her so that everyone could hear. "Now he's saying he has to go back to work, lunch is over. He loves the both of them."

"Who comes home for lunchtime anymore?" Bobby asked.

"Someone who really loves his family." Jack replied.

"If this is truly a hostage situation, he won't be able to leave." Myles said.

"But if it's not, then who is the meth dealer? It's certainly not the Mother, and that baby sure doesn't look like she's got a criminal bent." Jack said, and the guys slightly chuckled.

"We'll have to wait and see." Bobby replied.

When the husband drove off, Sue looked at Jack, silently wondering what she was to do. "Continue to watch, maybe she'll say something other than baby talk." He replied. She nodded, going back to her task. Meanwhile, he frowned, wondering what on earth was going on.

"Well, I'm hungry. Anyone want lunch?" Bobby asked.

"Sure. It's after noon anyways." Mya replied. She then turned to Sue and interpreted, since she didn't have the caption machine on. "Sue wants lunch too."

"I can eat." Myles said.

"Sparky?" Bobby asked, not hearing his response.

"Huh?" He asked, still in the little mystery world.

"Lunch?" He asked.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I'll eat." He replied, then went back into the world, thinking intently.

"Alright, then." He replied. "I'll be back with lunch in a bit." He replied, then went off to one of the cars they brought an parked down the street.

?-?

"I was thinking," Bob hesitantly started as he and Carla ate lunch together. "That maybe next week we could go visit my friend's estate, and get some perspective on our wedding location, and the planning around it?"

Carla smiled at him. "I like that idea!"

"You do?" He asked, shocked.

She nodded. "Yes. I think actually seeing it in person will help us gain perspective on planning the wedding, don't you? Besides, it will be nice to get out of the cold and into the warm sunshine for a little while."

"Wow, I wasn't expecting you to be so willing."

"Why not?" She asked.

"I, I don't know." He replied, chuckling. "I guess with how you treat Sue when she has to travel, I thought you would be opposed to the idea."

"Don't you know that's how all Mothers act, pandemic or not?" She replied.

"I guess so. I remember my Mom acting the same way with me." He replied, smiling at the memory.

She smiled at him. We'll leave Tuesday the 2nd. Sound good?"

He smiled back. "Perfect. I'll call my friend and book the tickets."

"Thank you!" Carla called after him as he walked away to do his newfound task.

Bob paused and turned around. "Anything for you, my dear." With that, he walked away. Carla widely smiled in response.

?-?

Hey, guys, this is Detective James." Bobby said as he and a man walked inside the surveillance van early that afternoon, everyone's lunch in one hand, his other guiding the detective inside. The detective was repositioning his newly-acquired clear mask, then looked up at the group.

"Jack Hudson, hi." Jack said, introducing himself. "This is Sue Thomas our lipreader, and Mya Zokoz, our tech genius."

Mya chuckled, shrugging. "I wouldn't say genius, but close, I guess."

Detective James nodded his hello at each person, smiling through his mask. "Nice to meet you. Where are we at?"

"Well, the car's in the driveway, but we only see a Mother and her toddler in the house, no perp." Mya explained.

"Detective," Jack started.

"Please, call me Bryce." He interrupted.

"Bryce." Jack corrected himself. "Do you know what the perp looks like?"

"We haven't made a positive identification, but this is quite a likeness of him." Bryce replied as he held his phone for all to see, an artist's sketch on its' display.

"We haven't seen anyone like that anywhere nearby." Sue replied. "I sure would've remembered that handlebar mustache."

"I think my officer was getting a little carried away with that 'stache, but he did have one. To that extent, I'm not sure." He replied, chuckling.

"Do you mind if I run it here? Maybe we have something you don't, and we can possibly identify him." Mya asked.

"By all means!" He exclaimed. "The faster we identify him, the faster we arrest him, the faster I get back home, back to my wife's pot pie." He said, smiling widely through his mask at the memory.

"I take it it's really good?" Jack asked.

"Mm-mm!" He exclaimed. "The best in the entire county. Three counties, actually. People come from all around to have a slice. She works at the diner, you see, and they feature it on Thursdays."

"Mmm, that sounds so good, you're making me hungry!" Sue exclaimed, her mouth watering.

Mya touched. Sue's shoulder. "You have lunch right over there."

"Yeah, but that's not the same, it's only a boring hamburger." She replied.

"You have a point." She replied, staring at the bag of hamburgers, imagining it to be a bag of pot pies.

"If you're ever in South Dakota, feel free to stop on by at the Fireside Diner. Say you're the people from Washington that helped me catch this perp, and we'll give you each a free slice." Bryce replied.

"Really?" Mya anticipatedly asked, her ears perked. He nodded. "We just might do that!"

Sue smiled at her friend. "We should really either stop talking about food, or eat our food ourselves."

"You're right." Jack said when Sue looked in his direction. "Let's go talk to the Mother, and leave these starving ladies to eat." He said, leading Bryce out of the van.

"THANK YOU." Sue signed, smiling through her mask.

"NONE PROBLEM." He replied. "Let's figure out what's going on around here!" He exclaimed as he and the detective walked to the house.