Chapter 4

Carlos was walking on the sidewalk, to his destination. He left Katie at home after he bought some security system and placed the sensors all over the house, in case someone tried anything funny he will know since a direct link is transferred to his phone. Anyway, where he was going was questionable - he was going home. Now, some might think that when visiting your home town the first thing you would do is see your parents, but Carlos wanted to avoid them. Sure, he loved his mom and dad but he decided that if they knew he was here, they wouldn't let him live his life freely being constantly worried about him, especially if he hasn't been sleeping well. The Latino knows for a fact that the first thing his mom is going to mention is his bags under his eyes. He walked up the driveway of his house and noticed that both his mom and dad are home since their cars were in the driveway. Carlos approached the door, pressed the doorbell, and waited. He heard footsteps and a moment later the door opened.

"Carlos? Oh mijo, what are you doing here?!" It was Sylvia Gracia, Carlos' mom, who answered and squealed when she saw him. Currently, she was hugging him and let go when she insisted on something else. "Come in! Oh my, Carlos, it looks like you haven't slept in days! Look at the bags under your eyes. Do you want to take a nap? Where are you staying? When did you arrive? How's the rest of the band? You want something to eat-?"

"Mom! I'm fine. I'm staying here for the next three weeks because it's my vacation, I don't want a nap, I'm staying a Kendall's house, I arrived a few days ago, the rest are doing great, and I'm not hungry," the teen chuckled and answered her every question as they both entered his old home. Although he had an amused smile on the outside, inside he was howling in laughter. The first thing she noticed was his bags. He knew it!

"Why didn't you come home earlier if you arrived a few days ago?" She scolded, smacking his arm.

"Ouch! I just been busy," he whined, rubbing his arm. His mom motioned him to sit in the dining room, which he did because he knows what she was doing. "I have Katie with me so we have been doing a lot of stuff. I have even been teaching her some cooking recipes you taught me."

"Wow! It's good that she starts learning how to cook, I'm proud of you honey, taking up some responsibility," she commented. Sylvia took out a mug and poured some hot chocolate into it from what she made only moments ago, as well as taking out a concha, a Mexican bread. Once she got everything ready, she gave it all to her son who sighed as a result. "Eat. I could tell that you haven't eaten anything in a while, the same could go for your sleep. When was the last time you ate?"

"Last night," he mumbled and stuffed his face with the bread. It gawked by how delicious it was but he didn't show it, trying to prove he wasn't hungry but it held no meaning.

"*sigh* Oh, what am I going to do with you?" She shook her head. "Why aren't you sleeping?"

"Hey, where's Papi?" He asked, changing the subject and drinking his chocolate. His mom sighed again but in a bit more depressing manner as she sat across from him. Carlos noticed this. "Mom. What's wrong?"

"Carlos, sweety, your daddy is in the hospital. He's in a coma." Carlos' world froze. His mom continued talking but he only heard the muffled sounds of it. His blood started pumping in his ears and his breathing became faster then his vision started darkening. How was his dad, his HERO, in a coma? His Papi is a cop, being indestructible and immortal. Carlos knew that police deal with life-threatening things every day but he also knew that his dad could handle anything. His arm started shaking. Apparently he had been staring at the table so when he looked up he saw his mom staring at him worriedly. "I know mijo, it's hard to take it all at once but you have to stay strong for your father."

"...How did he get in a coma?" Carlos asked, his voice low yet if Sylvia strained her ears, she would have heard him growl too.

"He was working a case. Your father was trying to track down three thugs who were wanted for murder and assault. According to his partner, he and your dad found them out on an abandoned factory area out of town, and since it was so big, they decided to split up. Your father took the Wire House while his partner took the Store Room. Apparently, he heard a gunshot and a big crash from where your father was located. Once he got there he saw your father under a pile of packed boxes and one of the thugs - dead. His partner quickly called for back up and an ambulance when he checked that your dad was still alive but unresponsive. In the meantime, he realized that the other two thugs escaped and the one dead was presumably shot down by your father," she explained painfully. "When your father was emitted in the hospital, he was automatically confirmed that he was in a coma. I'm sorry Carlos but I know he'll wake up soon, his body just needs to heal itself."

"Hm…," Carlos nodded. "Were those two thugs ever caught?"

"Um, no." He nodded again. The Latino was trying to think of any connection between what happened to his Papi and what happened to him. '...the other two thugs escaped' he replayed in his mind. That's when clicked. Two people were at the ice rink and two people escaped from arrest, is wanted for murder and assault. It may be a long shot but those two thugs may be the same. His phone vibrated so he took it out and his heart skipped a beat.

His security system alerted him of an intruder.

"Mom, where does Papi keep his emergency gun?" Carlos asked, shooting out of his chair.

"U-Uh under the couch," she answered, both confused and fearful as to why her son needed the weapon.

"I can't explain now mom but this is very important," he said as he rushed to the living room and grabbed the weapon. The pistol was encased in a black case, ammunition to the side, but he grabbed the whole thing, except the case. With rushing out a goodbye, he sprinted off to his temporary home with the gun in his pocket. In two minutes flat, he reached his destination. Pulling out the gun and switching off the safety, he creaked open the door and scanned the area just to find it empty. He heard muffled voices in the dining room so he silently stalked over to the area, gun ready to shoot if it was indeed an intruder terrorizing Katie. If anything happened to her, he would never forgive himself. He turned the corner. "FREEZE!"

"Woah!" All the people in the room raised their hands in the air. As the Latino registered who was in the kitchen he put the gun down and put the safety back on.

"Guys?!" He exclaimed, mixed feelings evident. Kendall, James, Logan, and Katie were in the room and raising their hands up fearfully but once they realized it was the Latino, they were shocked.

"What are you doing with a gun Carlos?!" Kendall stood up from his seat.

"I thought you were an intruder, and what are you doing here?!" Carlos shot back.

"It was Kendall's idea!" Logan and James accused.

"We wanted to check on you two so we decided to stay here for the three weeks too," Kendall frowned. "We thought it would be fun but it looks like you were going to shoot us!"

"Did you know about this?" Carlos directed to the preteen girl.

"I was just as surprised as you are when they came by," she shrugged. The Latino sighed and pocketed the pistol.

"So why and how do you have a gun?" Logan asked, not comfortable to know that there is a lethal weapon around them.

"I was at my parents' house and when I got a notification on my phone saying that there was an intruder, so I picked up my Papi's emergency gun there," he explained as he waved his phone around. "Speaking of which, I have to make a few calls and then I'm heading out."

"Who are you going to call?" Katie asked innocently.

"My dad's partner. He might help me with something," he said then left to the living room but then he stopped. "By the way, all of you guys are sleeping in Kendall's room and I'll sleep on the couch." Then he left.

"Uh...what?" James scratched his head. Carlos walked to the living room and sat down on the couch, then dialed the police department. After a few rings, they picked up. "Minnesota Police Department, do you have an emergency?"

"Um, no. I'm Carlos Garcia, the son of Officer Garcia. He works in your department," Carlos spoke.

"Oh, Officer Garcia, yes I know him. I heard what happened and I'm sorry," she sympathized. "What would you like to know?"

"Who is his partner that worked his most recent case? I would like to know more about what happened."

"The case about the three people convicted of murder and assault?"

"Yes."

"His partner's name is Officer McKean, he is actually here in his office now. Would you like me to transfer your call?" She offered politely.

"That would be great, thanks." Music was heard over the line. While he waited, the Latino decided to grab a piece of paper and pen to write down any information McKean might give him. Unknown to him though, the rest of the teenagers that he ditched earlier were eavesdropping to his conversation. A moment later, the music shut off and a voice came through. "Officer McKean speaking."

"McKean, hey, I'm Carlos Garcia, your partner's son," he introduced again.

"Oh, Carlos! How's it going? What do you need?"

"I've been...great," he lied poorly. "I need to know more about what happened with that case you worked with my dad. The one about the murderers and assaulters?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry what happened," he apologized. Carlos started to get irritated by all the people who were apologizing for no reason. They keep talking like he's dead!

"I don't need your apology, I just need to know what happened!" He snapped.

"Alright alright. Well, the two perpetrators we identified and the ones that escaped were Louis Devon and his brother Rich Devon. The one who died was the youngest of the brothers, Smike Devon," the officer informed. Carlos wrote all of the important information down. "There had been more crime revolving around them but we could never catch them in time."

"Okay. Do you know I can find these guys?" He asked, trying to sound innocent.

"Sorry Carlos but that's private police information," the officer shot down. "You know more than anybody that I can' give away something like that. You could yourself in danger if you went after these guys."

"Listen I could help you catch these guys. I always went with my dad to 'bring your child to work day' and he let me see file cases. I'm not a kid, and you need all the help you could get," the Latino persuaded.

"Carlos-"

"Many more people are going to die and get hurt if we don't put a stop to it. I'm sure you don't want that on your conscious knowing your letting people lose their lives over your shoulders," he cut him off. Carlos smirked when he heard the officer sighed.

"They live on 4755 Oral Lake Road. Certain friends of theirs also see them hang out by the sewer pipes near the forest," the reluctant officer gave up. The helmet-wearing teen wrote down the address.

"Do they live with their parents?"

"Yes, but only the mother. The father passed away."

"Okay. I'll head over to them," he said as he wrote everything down. "Thanks Mckean."

"Yeah yeah. When your dad wakes up to find you hurt, he's gonna put me in a coma because I let you go," McKean joked.

"I won't let that happen. Thanks again- wait before I go, can I use some of my dad's equipment?"

"I can't see why not. Better safe than sorry."

"Then I'll stop by later today. Okay gotta go. Bye." He hung up and stuffed the paper in his pocket. Slowly, he took out his father's pistol and lightly caressed. When he was younger, his father always took his emergency gun as a prized possession which confused him. Yet his father always said that it was used to defend against anything bad, like how he was built to protect his family. Plus it looked cool. A silent tear slipped past his dam though he quickly wiped it away. He needs to stay strong for him, Katie, the rest of Big Time Rush, and everyone else. Just like his dad, he will protect his family, no matter what.

"Ahem." He looked up to see everyone staring at him. Quickly he hid the weapon and put on a smile. "Hey, guys. What's up?"

"Why were you on the phone with the police?"

"Why are you going after murders?!"

"What happened to your dad?"

"GUYS!" He shouted, causing everyone to freeze, so he sighed and started heading to the front door. "I need to go to the police station to help catch some thugs. So if you don't mind, I have to get there before these guys getaway."

"Carlos, what's really going on?" Katie asked him as he paused at the, now open, door.

"You know what's happening. These two might be the same as the ones at the rink," he responded reluctantly. The three unaware band members gasped.

"You know what happened at the rink? About Mr. Preps?" James questioned.

"Yeah."

"How?!" Logan exasperated.

"...I was there with Mr. Preps when he was murdered."

Silence.

"If these two are the same who killed Mr. Preps then they need to go down," he continued with a shrug. "I just thought the police need the extra help."

"But why were you mad when the guy apologized about your dad?" Kendall asked.

"He's in a coma because of them," he growled, the grip he had on the doorknob he'd been holding grew tighter.

"Oh. We'll go with you then," he decided and headed toward the door but Carlos stook out his hand.

"No. If these guys are the same back at the ice rink, then they are after me. I can't let you guys get in any danger," he declined, very serious about the situation. His intimidating stare, though, didn't break the dirty blond.

"Why would they be after you?" Kendall crossed his arms, his bushy eyebrows furrowing together and his voice rising in volume.

"Because they already tried to take me out but they let me run!" Carlos retorted. He aggressively removed his shirt and exposed the bandage, getting a gasp from his friends. "This! This is what they did at the ice rink but I managed to escape. I've seen them shoot and they are good at it, so I can't let them get to you guys." He put his shirt back on. "Now stay here, I won't be gone for long-"

"I think at least one of us can go with you," Kendall narrowed his eyes. With a sigh, knowing he knew that he didn't have time to argue, Carlos grudgingly nodded. His eyes scanned the room. Katie: he knew that she was the youngest and too important to risk. James: he was his buddy and was strong to take them down but can't afford the pretty boy getting distracted by any pretty girls nearby. Kendall: he would take control of the situation and would put himself in front of the bullet for Carlos. He liked the loyalty but he didn't need it. Logan: the teen was a genius, knows what to do, how to work in situations (not under pressure), and has an eye for detail. After a few seconds, the Latino made his decision. "Come on Logan, you're coming with me."

"What?!" He exclaimed, getting nervous. "Are you sure you don't want Kendall? Or James? You always pick them!"

"I need you this time Logie," he smiled. The future doctor groaned and dragged himself out the door. With a wave, they both left to the police station.

To be continued...