AN: It's been a little while since I posted, and I'm sorry…I wasn't able to log in on one of my computers and it was the main one that I worked on. I do have some chapters done after this one so I am working…..On with the story!

An Interesting Encounter

Hunter pulled up to the mansion of his brother in his falling-apart car issued by Cain. When he tried to open his door, it got stuck, so he asked Catherine to open her side.

"Well, I would be happy to, except for the fact that, uh, it won't open. I tried right after you parked."

"Oh, great! I'm going to have to climb out the window and I'll help you."

"Okay." A brief look of fear crossed Catherine's face. It was soon replaced by a look of amusement. "Why don't you get a better car?"

"The captain is determined that if I'm not going to get killed on duty, I am going to get killed from a piece of junk he likes to call a car."

Catherine laughed.

Hunter grinned and climbed out of the window. He ran around the car and helped Catherine out of her window.

"You know maybe I should just go to the door by myself. I don't want dad yelling at you."

"He's my older brother. He always yells at me. I think I'm used to it by now."

"Okay. But at least let me tell him you're here. Let me pretend that I've been here the whole time and you just came to visit."

"What if he asks about Quest? He'll know you went out without bodyguards anyways. He'll probably yell at you and then yell at me. I would rather he just yell at me."

"Okay. We'll go together."

"Works for me."

Catherine held tightly to Hunter's arm. She knew the territory, but without her dog she felt helpless. She realized that she should have memorized the area without Quest so she could go at least a few places independently. She decided she would do that until they found Quest.

When Hunter and Catherine got to the door, it was opened before they had a chance to knock. "Catherine, what are you doing? Where's Quest? What's he doing here?" It was Catherine's mother.

"It's nice to see you again, too, Maria," Hunter said sarcastically.

"What is going on down here?" It was Hunter's brother. "Hunter? Why are you here? Are you here as a cop or as family? If you're a cop, you may as well just leave now. If you're here as family, come in."

"I am here on the request of Catherine. She asked me to locate Quest for her. Apparently she was taking a walk and someone attacked her."

Catherine swallowed hard as her uncle explained. She knew that she was going to have a major lecture in the very near future. She also had the feeling that her room would be guarded when she slept. "Papa, I'm so sorry. I know I shouldn't be going places without Teddy and Ben, but I just needed some time to myself, and the only way I could do that was to take the walks."

"I should have known something like this would happen. I knew that bodyguards during the day wouldn't be enough. You're going to have to learn that you can't go places without some sort of protection. You can't go anywhere without Ted and Ben."