Slowly, Sydney removed the disc from the drive and placed the next one in. Viewing the files all at once had seemed a good idea earlier that morning. Watching them back to back would give her a clear overview. Or so she thought. She hadn't counted on her own emotional turmoil. She had forgotten that six-year-old Sydney was as equally wrapped up in her father's journey.
The ringing of her cell phone came as a welcome relief to her angst filled morning.
"Sydney?"
"Hey, Dad. Is it time?"
"Not yet."
Sydney smiled at the succinctness of his answer. Why did getting information out of her father always feel like a game of Twenty Questions? "Has something happened?"
"Yes. We've got a really good lead on your mother's location."
"So then it is time. I'll be down shortly."
"Take your time. Kendall wants to go through the appropriate channels."
"How long, then?" Sydney let out an exasperated sigh.
"He estimates approval in about six hours."
"Six hours!" she gasped. "But Dad, they could be long gone by then."
"I know." Jack sighed. "Kendall's contacting the station chief in Milan to get a head start. I'll give him that. It is a small breach in protocol."
"Well, at least he's doing that much. Who is the station chief? Do you know him?" She felt a twinge of anxiety when her father didn't answer immediately. "Dad?"
"Yes, I know him. I ... haven't ... seen him in years."
"Well, I'm glad it's someone you know. Maybe he'll be more helpful than Kendall."
"Perhaps." Abruptly Jack changed the subject. "Are you okay?"
"Sure, why?"
"You sound ... sad?"
"It's just the cell phone, Dad. You know like on those commercials. She says 'Bring home a movie with Meryl Streep" and he thinks she said "Bring home the 40th Fleet."*
"I guess I missed that one."
She laughed. "Dad, you are probably the only person in the country who hasn't seen that commercial."
"I don't watch tv much."
"Yeah, I should know," she responded more harshly than she intended.
"Sydney, I turned off the tv for your own good. If you had been watching something mentally stimulating that might have been different, but you insisted on 'Teen Wolf' and 'The Facts of Life'."
"Dad, I was a kid. All my friends were watching those shows. Wait a minute. How did you know what I was watching? You made me watch 'educational' shows when you were home."
"I've got to go, Sydney. Kendall is waving frantically for me to, um, review the data we received from Italy. Bye."
Sydney stared at her phone. All those years of trying to get her father's attention, wanting, needing him to notice her. If he knew what shows she watched when he was away, he had obviously been paying more attention to her than she realized. But why hide it from her? She sighed. More puzzles.
Two interviews and still no real answer to how her father had changed from loving husband and father to the cold and distant man of her youth. She clicked the button to start the next interrogation.
.~*~
*Not an actual Sprint commercial to my knowledge, but I think they did one similar to that.
