The sun dawned over the horizon and the guest on the Monroe Ranch were finding it hard to shake off the last tendrils of sleep before, the renewed energetic Lizzie pronounced her arrival, by mercilessly waking them all up before they could waste half the day, indoors, in bed.
Downstairs Beth Monroe was found once again in her pristine kitchen free from the debris from the meal the night before. Beth was a simple woman who by any means would protect her family so when a man, who she hadn't seen for over 7 years, appears in her kitchen she immediately went on the defensive.
"Austin" Beth squeaked out as she backed away from the screen door and further into the hallway.
"Hello Beth." Came the reply from her estranged ex son-in-law.
"What are you doing? How did you get out? I thought you were locked up for another 4 years?" Beth rambled on as he steadily advanced on towards her, effectively trapping her against the wall.
"Nah, I got early for good behavior. Is Lindsay here?" Austin questioned as he pulled away from her and strolled back down towards the kitchen which by now nearly the whole household had filed into, waiting on the monumental breakfast that Beth had cooked up.
"Austin!" Beth called after him, as he entered the kitchen to be greeted with a very angry Jackson Monroe who had been reacquainted with his trusty shotgun, after he heard his wife's conversation at the front door. Beside him he had 3 very angry CSI's and 1 very furious Detective.
"You son of a bitch, get outta my house and off my property before I do what I should have done years ago." Jackson fumed, as his grip on the shotgun got tighter so that his knuckles had turned white.
"Hello Jack, how've you been?" Austin greeted as he took a seat at the table, as if he was part of the family again, as if no time had passed and he hadn't caused a major heart ache to the man before him.
Danny, Hawkes, Mac and Don had yet to put their guns down, as they each observed the bastard before them. Austin Mason was tall, not that different in height to Don, but he had the same sort of shape Danny had, wedged, wide shoulders and slim hips, all thanks to the years of playing quarter back. He had dark brown hair and in some lights it almost looked black, his eyes held a sort of feral look, that one can only gain after being in prison for x amount of years. He looked as if he hadn't shaved in over a week, giving him a scruffy almost homeless look. He was wearing the same suit he wore the day he was sentenced in the courthouse downtown, it appeared as if he had only just left the prison and came straight to the Ranch to cause even more heartache.
"Get the fuck outta my house before I make it very hard for you to procreate ever again, now!" Jackson shouted to the man polluting the atmosphere in his home.
"Alright, alright, I'll go. Could you just make sure that Lindsay gets this please?" With that Austin turned and left the same way he came, leaving the men to calm down and stare at the letter he had left on the table.
Muttering to himself Jackson sat down, but left his shotgun resting against his chair leg ready, if that scum bag decided to make another appearance.
"Calm down everyone, just take a seat and I'll get breakfast going again." Beth said as she regained her ability to speak. Tears shimmered in her eyes, as she was immersed in a memory from a few weeks before that fateful night. Without noticing the new additions to the kitchen she went about preparing the boys breakfast.
"Stel" Lindsay whispered to the woman next to her as they took a seat at the table and grabbed the freshly made coffee.
"Yeah"
"Something happened when we were upstairs."
"What do you mean?"
"Look at them" Lindsay pointed towards the men surrounding them. "They look as if they have just had an encounter with a particularly nasty suspect, they have that jaw clenching thing going on, not to mention their guns are next to their hands"
"Something must have set them off"
"Daddy, how come you guys have your guns out?" Lindsay asked her father, who sat at the end of the table staring at the envelope in his hands.
"Nothing Linds, just had a nasty encounter this morning that I don't want a repeat of anytime soon." Jackson reassured his daughter, forcing a smile onto his face he stuffed the envelope into his back pocket, thinking to himself that the next opportunity he got he would read it then burn it, before his daughter could even know about the damn thing.