Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, written by a fan, for the purpose of self-entertainment and the entertainment of other fans. All entities included in this work which are affiliated with Jonny Quest and The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest have been used without permission and belong to WarnerMedia (Hanna-Barbera). This author makes no claims otherwise. No monetary compensation has been requested by or received by the author of this fan work.
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Warnings: Overall Series Rating of Fiction T (movie rating equivalent of PG-13). Contains mild language, some mature themes, and some violence.
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A Note From the Author: 2-14-2020 Sixth in a series, this story follows Day of Reckoning. The Author's Note in Industry of Intrigue applies to the entire series, but I would also like to share a few things on this specific installment. You are about to read the fifth version of this installment. Yep. Fifth. The main plot hasn't had any drastic changes between revisions, but a lot of the rest of it has, including the title! I've taken out characters, added characters, exchanged characters… both good guys and bad guys. I finally hit on the right combination a few years ago, but it took me a while to finish this last revision. Other projects were more appealing than revising this… Again.
This story reunites Jessie and Maggie with Blain, Ryan, and Scott, three of the guys they met on their ill-fated trip in Continental Divide. Not Mick. I cut him out because he kept messing up the story lines. Don't worry, though. I didn't off him. I don't do that sort of thing unnecessarily. I did, however, have the annoying tendency to type "Scoot" instead of "Scott" for whatever reason. This story has been edited, but if you find a "Scoot" somewhere in there that I missed, you have my permission to laugh. Then message me where you found it so I can laugh, too! ~Sapphire
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The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
Play Against Danger
By: Sapphire
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Chapter One: Reunion
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January 2001
Location: Kings Mountain, Vermont
Wednesday
The snow was softly falling late Wednesday afternoon just after the New Year. The silver minivan with the Quest Enterprises logo on the side pulled up to the Kings Mountain Lodge, loaded with passengers and ski equipment. Dr. Quest and Race had practically chased them out of the house, telling them they needed the break after the whole fiasco with the Wraith Prototype in November and all the fallout that came after. The kids had reluctantly agreed to go, especially since Dr. Quest and Race were headed for Chicago anyway. Now that they were here, they were excited for the ski weekend they'd come for.
It was a good thing Hadji had driven, Jonny thought to himself. If he'd been driving, they'd have ended up in the ditch long ago, caused by Jessie and Maggie's excited- and very distracting- chatter they'd kept up the whole drive.
The moment they entered the warm lobby, Jonny found a little out of the way corner to dump his bags and ski equipment. The others, just as heavily laden with belongings, did likewise. "I hope they have bell hops," Jonny said, wearily eyeing the large pile of bags on the floor. Hadji raised an eyebrow as he added his own things to the pile.
"I think now would be a good time to check in," Jessie said quietly to Maggie, taking her arm and pulling her toward the lobby's main desk, "before Jonny figures out there are no bell hops and disappears." Maggie nodded knowingly, walking quickly at Jessie's side.
Jonny looked around the cozy lobby area, taking in the three stone fireplaces, all with fires blazing in the hearths and a comfortable seating arrangement in front of it. He wondered if any of the people scattered among them were the people they had come to Vermont to meet. The trip had been the suggestion of Ryan Walters, one of the four young men the girls had met and rescued in Montana the summer before. They had kept in contact and Jessie and Maggie were looking forward to the reunion. Jonny was relieved to finally have the chance to meet the guys he'd been hearing about non-stop since July.
"Your rooms are 201 and 203," Jonny heard the clerk say. "Here are your key cards, two for each room." Maggie said as she took the four keycards. "You may pick up your lift passes in the morning," the clerk finished.
"Thank you," Jessie said as she and Maggie turned away from the desk.
"Jessie! Maggie!" The girls looked up. Coming down the main stairs opposite the front desk were three familiar faces, one waving excitedly.
"Hi guys!" Jessie called as she and Maggie went to meet them at the bottom of the stairs.
"Interesting," Jonny commented under his breath to Hadji, noting the way Maggie's face lit up as the tallest of the three, a blonde, caught her in an exuberant hug. Both of them, especially Jonny, had been keeping a meticulous eye on their cousin since Thanksgiving. This was the happiest she'd looked in two months.
"Scott!" Maggie returned the embrace with equal enthusiasm.
"Indeed," Hadji agreed quietly, observing the scene.
"Group hug!" one of the other two guys called jokingly, catching Jessie as they converged on Scott and Maggie. There was a great deal of laughing.
"Maggie seems pretty relaxed around them," Jonny noted. "I'm kinda surprised. She doesn't trust people easily."
"I do not think I am wrong to say the three of them earned her trust last summer," Hadji reminded. Jonny nodded in agreement.
"Guys, meet my cousins, Jonny Quest and Hadji Singh," Maggie said, signaling out the two, who had been hanging back while the girls made their greetings. "Jonny, Hadji, these three are Scott Larsen and Blain and Ryan Walters," Maggie introduced, indicating each in turn, a round of friendly handshakes ensuing.
"Where's Mick? Didn't he come?" Jessie asked, glancing around the lobby as the introductions and greetings came to an end.
"He couldn't make it," Blain said with a shake of his head. "He found out New Year's Eve that he landed the internship he really wanted. He even had to cut his trip home to Australia short. His new girlfriend wasn't happy," he laughed.
"I was looking forward to having all of us together," Maggie sighed sadly.
"Me, too," Jessie agreed. "I was planning to order oatmeal for breakfast." Jonny gave her an odd look. Oatmeal? What was she talking about?
"Porridge," four voices corrected, laughing.
"He's sorry he had to miss this," Ryan assured the girls, slipping an arm around Jessie's shoulders, giving her a consoling squeeze before letting go. Jonny's eyes narrowed at that. Had he just… put the moves on Jessie? And she hadn't said anything? For some reason, that bothered Jonny. He just wasn't sure why.
"Hey, Maggie," Blain said, "want help hauling all your gear up to your rooms?" She nodded her head enthusiastically.
"That would be great," Jessie said eagerly. "Now Jonny won't care there aren't any bell hops." Jonny turned to Jessie.
"There aren't any bell hops?" he asked. "If there aren't any bell hops, then why didn't you say so? I'd have -"
"Wormed your way out of hauling gear. I know, I know," Jessie said. "But the point is moot now, isn't it?" Jonny had to agree as everyone picked up a bag or two and headed for the wide, rustic staircase leading to the guestrooms.
"Are you all right, Jonny?" Hadji asked quietly.
"Sure, Hadj. Why wouldn't I be?" Hadji just shook his head. Jonny couldn't fool him. They'd known each other too long for that. Hadji watched Jonny for a long moment, then joined the others in hauling the gear up the stairs.
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"That goes into the girls' room," Jonny directed Scott. Scott headed into room 203 through the connecting door with a bag full of ski equipment. He dumped it unceremoniously on top of the heap that was already in the corner.
"Need any help?" Scott asked, watching them busily move about the room.
"I think I'm good," Jessie said, hanging her ski jacket on a hanger in the closet by the door. Scott nodded and watched Maggie walk by on her way back from putting some things in the bathroom, pushing up the sleeves of her powder blue sweater. He immediately noticed the four pale-pink parallel lines on the inside of her left arm as she did.
"Hey, how did that heal?" he asked, catching Maggie's eye. She noticed the direction of his gaze, and pulled her sleeve farther up, taking a seat on the end of the nearest bed where Scott sat down beside her.
"It's still pink," Maggie told him. "The doctor says it'll look like that for a while. It'll fade, though I'll have the scar forever."
"You're lucky," Scott commented, "It's not raised." He brushed his fingertips over her scarred skin as he spoke. Maggie was suddenly aware of how close he was. Not sure how she felt about that, she pushed her sleeve down and stood up, going to the sliding glass door to put some distance between them. She unlocked the door and pulled it open, stepping out on the narrow, snowy balcony.
"This is such a pretty view," she said, standing at the railing. Scott stepped out behind her.
"It's better than our view," Scott agreed, standing at the railing beside her, careful to leave a few inches between them. She instantly relaxed. He understood then that things hadn't really changed since July. Maggie was still hung up on that other guy. Between the back and forth e-mails he'd been exchanging with Maggie and Jessie, and from what Ryan had said after meeting up with Maggie briefly at Thanksgiving, Scott had a good idea who the other guy was. He just wasn't sure what he was going to do with that knowledge, if he did anything at all. He'd have to wait and see.
"You know," Maggie said, "the last few days I've had the strangest feeling we should have planned a weekend at a beach somewhere."
"Why is that?" Scott asked curiously.
"Because the last time we were all together on a mountain, it turned into a survival trip," Maggie said with a faint smile. Scott laughed.
"You aren't the only one who's thought that," he admitted, "but it's too late to change our minds now."
"Then we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed that history doesn't repeat," Maggie said, smiling.
"You got it," Scott agreed, holding up a hand and crossing his fingers, making her laugh.
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After dinner, they laid claim to one of the fireplaces in the lobby. "We need marshmallows," Jonny said, sitting on the rug in front of a roaring fire.
"Why don't you see if a bell-hop can get you some?" Jessie teased. Jonny glared at her. Then he glared at Ryan for good measure. Jonny didn't dislike Ryan- the guy was actually pretty cool- but he was definitely flirting with Jessie, and she was flirting back. This was a side of his best friend he'd never seen, and he didn't really like it, though he couldn't fathom why. Scott was doing his fair share of flirting with Maggie, and while Jonny was watching them closely, it didn't bother him in the same way.
"Children, children," Blain chastised mockingly. "Settle down. I'm sure we can find some puffy sugar balls for you to scorch."
"Not a fan, huh?" Jonny asked. Blain laughed and shook his head.
"Can't stand the stuff," he said. "But if it'll keep the peace, I'll go procure us some." Jonny nodded, then turned and flashed Jessie a triumphant grin. It was lost on her. She was too absorbed in a conversation with Ryan to notice. Jonny's mood turned sour at the way their heads tilted toward each other as they talked, even when Scott, Maggie, and Hadji joined their conversation. At least until Blain returned with the marshmallows. Then it sweetened a bit.
"…El Capitan," Jonny caught the end of whatever Scott had said.
"El Capitan, in Yosemite?" Jonny asked, his interest piqued, skewering a marshmallow on a toasting fork.
"Yeah," Ryan said. "Scott and I went climbing there in June, before the Montana trip where we met the girls. You ever been?" he was curious.
"That place is fantastic," Jonny said, his ire instantly forgotten. "We mostly climb at Acadia, but Jess, Hadji and I were out there two summers ago…"
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Jonny was staring at a book, not reading, though he was trying for all the world to look like he was. Hadji sighed to himself and turned to stare out the window at the snow falling outside. Admittedly, he'd seen this coming a long time ago, but that didn't mean he was ready to deal with it. Things at home were touchy enough as it was. The fallout after Thanksgiving hadn't all been about the Wraith 3 prototype, after all. When Price brought home a fiancé, he'd broken Maggie's heart. When Maggie had started dating after the initial uproar over the Wraith 3 prototype died down, it was Price who had acted like the one with the broken heart. This weekend away was supposed to be a reprieve from that kind of drama. Hadji glanced in Jonny's direction. He wasn't exactly sure of his brother's state of mind, but Hadji definitely saw signs that he might be out of luck.
Jonny, barely aware of the book in his hands, gave a cursory attempt to read the pages, but thoughts of Jessie and Ryan intruded. Not that he cared what Jessie did, or with whom. It was just so… weird. For some reason, he couldn't let it go. With a disgusted sigh, Jonny tossed the book onto the bedside table and got up off of bed. Maybe a shower would help clear his head. Crossing in front of the window, he momentarily blocked Hadji's view, earning an irritated look from Hadji.
With a crash, glass came flying at him, biting into the flesh of his shoulder and face and arms as he threw his hands up to try and protect himself, ducking into a crouch against the wall under the window at the same time. Glass rained down on him for a few moments before stopping. Still leaning against the wall, his thoughts were reeling. What the hell had happened?
"Are you all right, Jonny?" Hadji asked, already on his feet.
"I'm not hurt too bad," Jonny said, taking quick stock of his injuries then slowly started picking his way toward Hadji across the glass-strewn floor. As soon as Jonny cleared the glass, Hadji grabbed him and made him sit on the side of the bed, away from the glass and cold draught from the broken window.
"Hey!" They both recognized Jessie's voice, accompanied by rigorous pounding on the closed connecting door. "What's going on in there?"
"Let her in," Jonny said with a wave. "I'll be all right for the minute it takes to open the door." Hadji nodded, crossing the room to the door to admit both Jessie and Maggie.
"What happened to you?" Maggie asked, peering past Jessie, looking at the broken window and then at Jonny, who was bleeding from various cuts.
"We heard a crash," Jessie said, stepping past Hadji into the room. "What did you do this time, Hot Shot?" she asked.
"Nothing!" Jonny denied, rolling his eyes.
"Let's see the damage," Jessie sighed, walking toward him. Suddenly Jonny was off the bed. He caught Jessie around the waist and dragged her to the floor. "What-?"
"Get down," Jonny ordered, his eyes locked on a spot on the wall opposite the window. Everyone looked to see what was so important. It wasn't a spot. It was a hole. A bullet hole. Hadji and Maggie were on the floor in an instant.
"Someone shot at you," Maggie breathed. Jonny just nodded. Even with the bullet-hole in the wall it was a little hard to believe. Who did it? And why?
"Jonny, you're bleeding," Jessie said, wiggling out of his grasp. Jonny suddenly realized he was still holding onto her, and let go. He watched her shrug out of her cotton robe and wad it up into a makeshift compress, pressing it tightly to the heavily bleeding wound on his shoulder. "The glass sliced right through your shirt." Jonny winced as she applied pressure to the wound to slow the bleeding.
"Maggie," Hadji said, catching her attention. "I think it would be a good idea for us to take a look around outside."
"Let's go," Maggie agreed, following him to the door, grabbing Jonny's ski jacket while Hadji grabbed his own. She paused for a moment and looked back. "I'll have the infirmary doctor sent up," she told Jessie. "We'll make up some story about a snowball coming through the window." Jonny and Jessie both nodded.
"Be careful," Jessie cautioned. Maggie nodded, then she and Hadji were gone. She stood, hands on her hips, starting at the window. "We're sitting ducks. Anyone can see in," she said. "I want to close the drapes, but we need to leave them open for Hadji and Maggie." She was shivering in her light cotton tank top and pajama pants as cold air wafted over them from the broken window.
"Here," Jonny said, reaching across his bed to grab the grey sweater he'd been wearing earlier and handed it to Jessie. She pulled it on quickly. "Better?" he asked.
"Yeah, thanks," she said, hugging it around herself as she slowly warmed. Her gaze was on him, and Jonny wondered what she was thinking behind those green eyes of hers. "Let's get you cleaned up a little," Jessie suggested, "find out how much damage the broken glass did." Jonny nodded. They made their way into the bathroom where Jonny sat down heavily on the closed toilet lid.
Jessie removed the makeshift compress and helped him off with his shirt. She grabbed a wash cloth off the rack and wet it in the sink with warm water and began to wash away the blood on his face, arms, and shoulders. She made quick work of it.
"This one cut on your shoulder is the worst," she finally pronounced.
"How does it look?" Jonny asked, trying to see the bleeding cut on the back of his shoulder for himself.
"I think you might need stitches," Jessie answered, folding a clean, damp towel and pressing it against his shoulder. "The rest should be fine with an adhesive bandage." She let Jonny apply pressure to the wound and hold the compress in place himself while she reached out the bathroom door for his duffel bag which she'd seen in the closet area by the main door. "Happen to have any bandages in your bag?"
"Maybe a couple. I usually do," Jonny said. "Jess?" he asked after watching her rifle through the bag for a minute, "do you think-" but he didn't get any farther. The sound of a key card in the electronic lock interrupted.
"Damn," they heard a muttered oath from the other side, accompanied by the low electronic tone meaning the key card had failed. The voice was not Maggie's or Hadji's. Jonny and Jessie were both at the door in a moment. Jonny stood against the back of the door, holding it closed with his body weight. Jessie leaned against the door next to him, holding the handle firmly in her grasp as they listened to the sound of the key card sliding into the electronic lock again. This time they heard the faint tone that meant the card had been accepted. Jessie's knuckles were turning white she held the handle so tight.
"What the hell?" they heard the person on the other side hiss quietly. Jessie held tighter to the handle as he- because the voice definitely belonged to a man- tried desperately to turn the handle. Jessie's death grip didn't allow it to turn at all. "Crap," the man swore. Jessie and Jonny could hear laughter echoing up the hall. Their would-be intruder suddenly fled, about to be discovered by unsuspecting lodge guests. They heard his footsteps retreating, though they quickly faded in the carpeted hallway. A minute later, the laughing guests were entering their room just a few doors down from theirs. Jonny's and Jessie's gazes met.
"That was close," Jonny said.
"Yeah," Jessie agreed, prying her stiff fingers off the door handle. She turned the deadbolt, just in case.
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"I wish I'd stopped to grab my boots," Maggie hissed as she and Hadji made their way along the snowy path outside the lodge. "These slippers are already soaked and my feet are freezing! At least I borrowed Jonny's jacket."
"We are almost there," Hadji whispered sympathetically. He held up his hand, motioning Maggie to slow down as they approached the portion of the path that led under their windows. Silently they moved along the path, hugging the edge along the shrubbery, trying to keep out of sight.
"The bullet had to come from somewhere over there," Maggie whispered next to Hadji's ear. He nodded, and they moved forward together slowly and cautiously. They had nearly reached the boys' window when they came across a narrow footpath cut through the hedge. On closer examination, under the branches where the falling snow didn't touch, they could see fresh footprints. "Are we going in?" Hadji nodded in the affirmative.
The hedge was not very thick, and even Hadji managed to squeeze through without disturbing the fresh snow clinging to the branches. Maggie knew Hadji had to be thinking along the same lines she was. Anyone could have slipped through here. They followed the foot path single file until it opened onto a wider path through a wooded area that they could see at a glance would join up with the main path roughly twenty yards farther ahead. Any footprints the perpetrator might have made had already been obliterated by the falling snow. Hadji turned around and looked up at the window of his and Jonny's room.
"This could be the place," Hadji whispered, moving backward until the room beyond the broken window came into clear view. "Yes. Start searching for signs." Maggie nodded and they spread out a little to take a careful look around. Hadji found it first. A little spot behind an evergreen bough. Where the bough protected the ground from the heaviest of the fresh falling snow, there were footprints. The footprints matched the ones they'd seen under the hedge.
"Whoever it was, they were here," Hadji said in a hushed tone. "A perfect sight line into the room. You can even see the chair where I was sitting." Maggie came over and looked.
"Definitely deliberate," she said, looking up into the boys' room through the broken window. She turned her gaze downward and started looking around. "No way we'll find a shell casing in this snow."
"Not likely," Hadji agreed, continuing to look around. "Whoever he was, he is gone."
"Come on, Hadji," Maggie said with a sigh. "Let's go back inside and find the infirmary doctor." Hadji nodded, and they headed back along the path toward the main entrance.
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"Thanks," Scott said, taking the toothbrush from the night clerk at the front desk. When he turned to head back upstairs to his room, he saw Maggie and Hadji hurrying across the lobby and up the steps with a middle-aged man following. "What the heck?" he muttered to himself, wondering what had them in such a hurry they passed right by without noticing him. He quickly raced after them.
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When they heard the sound of footsteps outside their door, Jonny and Jessie readied themselves, listening intently, afraid the intruder had returned. They were prepared to hold the door closed again, if necessary. They didn't have to.
"It's so quiet in there," they heard Maggie's voice from the other side of the door. "Hurry up, Hadji." Jessie sagged against the doorframe with relief. Jonny put a hand on her shoulder, echoing her sentiment with a sigh. Jessie unlocked the deadbolt, then she and Jonny moved back into the doorway of the bathroom to get out of the way. A moment later, the door was open and Hadji and Maggie were walking into the room. To their surprise, the two had in tow not only a middle-aged man they presumed was the doctor, but also Scott, bringing up the rear.
"Scott?" Jessie asked, looking from him, then to Maggie with a questioning look.
"What?" Maggie turned around. "What are you doing here?" she asked, surprised.
"I was in the lobby asking the desk clerk for a toothbrush when I saw you running up here with that guy," he said, pointing to the doctor. "I was curious, so I followed you." He looked at the girls questioningly.
"Jonny got hurt," Maggie explained before turning back to her cousin. "Jonny, you look pretty cut up."
"They're mostly just scratches," Jonny said as she gave him a once over, inspecting the few visible cuts on his face and neck.
"There's a cut on his shoulder that might need stitches," Jessie added.
"This is Dr. Mansfield," Hadji introduced.
"Let's take a look at that shoulder, young man," Dr. Mansfield said. Jonny nodded, stepping back into the bathroom. Jessie stayed at the door, letting Dr. Mansfield in. He instructed Jonny to sit on the closed toilet while he washed his hands thoroughly at the sink. He took some surgical gloves from his bag and put them on, then checked over Jonny's other cuts before focusing on the larger wound on his shoulder. "Three stitches ought to close that up nicely," Dr. Mansfield pronounced, rummaging in his bag for the appropriate supplies. "I can take care of that right here, if you like."
"Yeah," Jonny agreed. "The sooner the better. Then I can get some sleep."
"We'll arrange for another room for you as soon as we're done with this. You can't stay in a room with a broken window," Dr. Mansfield said, shooing everyone else out of the bathroom. "You kids pack up your things in the meantime," he said, closing the door.
"Stay here out of sight of the window," Maggie whispered to Scott as she, Hadji, and Jessie moved quickly to gather up all the boys' belongings.
"Window?" Scott echoed, confused, but his question went unanswered.
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Race was definitely not happy at learning one of the family had been shot at. He had immediately ordered the kids to pack up their stuff and come home. They, of course, protested loudly. Race settled for having them set up in a private suite, the kind they reserved for high-profile guests, with extra security features- including bullet-proof glass on the windows. They were to go home immediately if anything else happened.
Despite the hassle of moving all their belongings, the kids were actually happy about the new accommodations. Jessie and Maggie got the master bedroom with a king sized bed to share and a private bathroom with a whirlpool tub that filled from a faucet on the ceiling. Jonny and Hadji were sharing the loft which had two double beds. The suite also had a private kitchenette and dining area, and a rather large living area with a stone fireplace where they settled in tiredly around the cold hearth.
"So, what did you find?" Jonny asked, not beating around the bush, looking pointedly at Hadji, then Maggie. "Or was what you told Race the truth?"
"We told the truth," Hadji replied. "We learned precisely two things. One, it could have been anyone, and two, it was not random." Maggie nodded, confirming what he said.
"We found where the shooter hid, but there's no way to tell where he went with fresh snow coming down," she said with a shake of her head.
"I suspect the shooter was using a silencer," Hadji observed. "The gunshot did not raise attention outside our room." Jonny nodded. He'd guessed as much.
"Jonny was shot?" Four pairs of eyes were suddenly focused on Scott. They had actually forgotten he was there. "I've been dying to ask, but held back."
"Shot at," Jonny corrected, exchanging a wary gaze with Hadji, then Jessie, then Maggie. "A bullet came through the window," he explained. "All the damage was from the broken glass."
"Who would shoot at you?" Scott asked. He could feel the building tension his question caused. He didn't miss the pointed looks being exchanged, either.
"There are a few possibilities," Hadji answered slowly with a shrug. "It is impossible to say when we know so little." Jonny wandered over to the glass doors leading to the terrace balcony.
"Don't go out there," Jessie cautioned, stopping him as he reached for the door handle. "My dad said not to go out on the balcony. Stay away from the windows, too, even though they're bullet-proof." Jessie rolled her eyes at the last. Jonny's hand dropped.
"Maybe we should get some sleep," Jonny said, running a hand through his messy blond hair. "We can talk about this in the morning." His gaze found Scott and he sighed.
"Uh…" Scott said, taken aback, when he realized all four pairs of eyes were on him again. "Don't you think Ryan and Blain and I ought to know what's going on?" Suddenly the attention in the room shifted to Maggie and Jessie who were exchanging loaded glances.
"Your call," Jonny told the girls with a huge yawn. Hadji nodded agreement.
"I'll take this," Maggie volunteered. Jessie nodded. Then Scott realized Maggie was looking expectantly at him. "Can I talk to you for a little while?" she asked.
"Sure," he agreed with a nod.
"Let's go down to the lobby," Maggie suggested. Scott nodded as she took his arm and led him to the door.
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To be continued…
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