Disclaimer: I do not own OTH or any of it characters places or such. I am simply borrowing them.
AN/ Here is the next chapter. I am so sorry that the updates have been far apart lately. Life has been throwing some major curves and there is not enough time in the day
Thanks for all the reviews and all of the encouragement. Please don't forget to review for this chapter.
As always suggestions are welcome!
As Jake, Larry, Peyton and Anna discussed the current situation with Andy, there was a knock at the door. Anna stood to answer it
"Hey guys" Anna said as she opened the door and found John, Lydia and Haley standing on the front porch, "Come on in. We are in the living room"
"Thanks Anna" Lydia said as the three stepped into the house taking off their coats
"John, Lydia" Larry said as they entered the living room
"Hey Larry. We wanted to come by and see what we could figure out about this Andy situation"
"Have a seat. We were just talking about that. Jake is not sure if he can access the witness protection database"
"I wasn't sure if he would be able too. I am sure they keep that pretty well hidden"
"They do, but there might be a way to find out if a particular person is on there" Jake said
"Karen said that he claimed that is why he left." John said
"Did she say anything else?" Anna asked
"She said that he was put into the program because he testified against some Mafia person in New Zealand."
"Peyton, Do you think that you could find something on the trial on the Internet?" Haley asked knowing that Peyton was an Internet whiz
"I might be able too. Did he say when the trial was?"
"He told Karen that it was about 28 years ago"
"Let me go see what I can find," Peyton said standing and walking towards her dad's office.
"Haley was there when Andy was explaining himself" John told Larry.
"Did he say anything else that might be useful, Haley?" Larry asked
"No, just that he had heard about Keith and that is why he came back"
"Jake, who else would have access to the police report from the accident?" John asked
"No one really. The police incidents are published on the Internet, but that usually takes at least two months. The only people who can access it right now are people within the department and even they have to be authorized"
"We need to figure out how he knew that Keith was killed. That is bugging me the most," Larry said
Karen, Lucas and Nathan sat watching the nightly sitcoms in silence. They had not spoken another word concerning Andy or the situation that had presented itself. When the sitcom ended, Karen stood and walked towards the kitchen.
She returned a few minutes later and stood at the end of the couch, "I am heading to bed. Can one of you get Meredith off to school in the morning?"
"I will" Lucas responded, "Wake me up before you leave"
"Okay. Good night boys"
"Night Mom" They replied in union
Karen smiled as she made her way to her bedroom.
"This whole Andy situation is rubbing me the wrong way," Lucas said finally breaking the silence
"Yea, me too"
"I just don't understand why he came back. There is nothing here for him"
"I don't know, Luke. I just want to put the whole thing behind me. I want him to leave this town and stay away this time. I have nothing more to say to him. He is the one who left," Nathan said standing and walking towards his bedroom. "I am going to turn in. See ya tomorrow man"
"Yea, see ya" Lucas responded before Nathan's door shut.
"So, I had a really nice time today, Mouth" Erica said as Mouth walked her to her door.
"Yea, I did too"
"Do you have any plans for the next few days?"
"Not really. I am just hanging out with the gang. You should join us. You know everyone and I know they would like to spend more time with you"
"Are you sure that is okay?"
"Erica, Positive"
"Okay. Give me a call tomorrow and let me know what you guys have planned"
"Okay. Why don't you meet us at the café at noon?"
"Okay, I will be there"
"Okay. Good night, Erica" Mouth said leaning in to kiss Erica one more time
"Good night" Erica said before opening and closing the door
Mouth walked down the front steps and towards the sidewalk a huge smile on his face.
"I think I might have found something," Peyton said entering the living room with a piece of paper in her hand.
"What?" Larry asked his daughter
"There was a trial about 28 years ago concerning the Mafia. They did convict a man by the name of Victor Greeno, for the murder of one, James Hargrove."
"So, he is telling the truth" John said
"Hold on a minute, Uncle John. There is more" Peyton said
"What else is there?" Larry asked
"Victor was granted a re-trail 18 years ago. He claimed that he was innocent and that someone else had killed James Hargrove. He was found not guilty due to new forensic evidence testing. They tested blood found at the scene; it turned out that it was neither James Hargrove's nor Victor Greeno. However, it was blood from a person within the same bloodline as James Hargrove. There were only two living relatives to James Hargrove at the time, Andy Hargrove and Susan McMillian. Susan was ruled out simply before the blood sample was from a male."
"So, what you are saying as that Andy killed his uncle?" Anna asked
"According to another article I found, they are looking for Andy in the states. Working with police departments in different states. They almost caught him here in Tree Hill"
"So, he was running, not from the Mafia, but the police" Lydia said
"Yea and he has been running all this time" Peyton said
"That doesn't explain how he knew about Keith though," John said
"No, it doesn't, but." Jake trailed
"But what?" John asked
"Andy has been avoiding the police for the last 20 years, that is not something that you can do by yourself. He must know someone on the inside and that is how he is alluding the police. That might also be how he found out about Keith."
"Do you think that is possible?" Haley asked
"Do I think it is possible, yes. Do I want to believe that someone is helping a murderer, no." Jake answered
"Is there a way to prove that he knows someone in one of the agencies?" John asked
"Peyton, did any of the articles say who was handling the manhunt for Andy?" Jake asked his fiancée
"One of them said it was the FBI"
"Okay, I can work with that. I am going to run to the station for a little while. I have a friend at the FBI, who owes me a favor" Jake said walking out of the room towards the hall closet to grab his coat. "I will probably be a while so I can let you all know something tomorrow," Jake said to the group
"Okay, give me a call tomorrow at the office" Larry said
"I will" Jake replied before turning to Peyton, "Are you going to stay here or go home?"
"I will see if Dad can give me a ride home. You take the car"
"Okay, I will see you when I get there" Jake said kissing Peyton and walking out the front door.
"Should we say anything to Lucas and Nathan?" Haley asked as Peyton sat next to her on the living room floor
"Not yet. Let's see what Jake finds," John said
"That is probably the best thing. They have too much going on already," Anna said
"Peyton, do you need me take you home?" Larry asked
"We can drop her off" Lydia offered, "It is on our way home"
"Thanks, I would appreciate it" Peyton said
"Well, lets get out of here then. We all have to work tomorrow," John said standing from the couch
"Bye mom. Thanks for dinner" Peyton said hugging her mom
"Your welcome sweetheart. Sleep well, okay"
"I will. Bye dad"
"Bye honey" Larry said hugging his daughter
"Bye Anna, Larry" Lydia said as the four walked out the door
"Bye guys. We will call you tomorrow," Anna said closing the door behind their guests
Nathan couldn't sleep. He kept tossing and turning, his mind was filled with all kinds of thoughts, from Haley to Andy to Basketball and family. Nathan finally gave up on getting any sleep for the time being and got up to get a drink from the kitchen.
When Nathan entered the kitchen, Lucas was sitting at the table with a glass of milk and the cookie jar.
"Couldn't sleep either?" Nathan asked getting a glass from the cabinet
"Didn't even try" Lucas responded
Nathan filled his glass with milk and sat down across from his brother digging his hand into the jar between them.
"Remember when we used to do this?" Lucas said a smile on his face
"Yea, when we are talking about which college to go to"
"Yea, you wanted to go to Duke"
"You wanted to go to the University of Virginia"
"Yea" Lucas said laughing, "We couldn't decide"
"We decided pretty quick when we got those scholarships to UNC Wilmington" Nathan said
"Yea, plus that is where all our friends where going"
"You know the last time we sat like this in this kitchen was right after Bevin and Michael were killed"
"I remember. You asked me what I thought about you giving up your college education to go play professional basketball"
"You told me to go for it"
"No, I said it was your decision"
"Now I am trying to make another decision concerning my professional career"
"What is that?"
"Whether or not to give it up to be with the one person who means the world to me"
"Haley"
"Yea, Haley."
"Nathan, we both know that neither one of them want us to give up what we love."
"I know. I just don't want to be away from her. We both know that long distance relationship don't do so well."
"Yea, but we are not typical people. We have known Brooke and Haley since forever. We have history together. I know there is a way we can make it all work"
"I hope you are right, big brother" Nathan said dunking one of his cookies into his milk
"Sure I am. Anyway, I am going to bed. I have to get up with Meredith in the morning"
"Yea, I am heading that way too. Maybe now I will actually get to sleep"
Lucas and Nathan placed their glasses in the sink and put the cookie jar back on the counter before walking out of the kitchen towards their bedrooms
"Night Nate" Lucas said opening his bedroom
"Night Luke" Nathan said as both bedroom doors closed
"Jagleski, what are you doing here?" Sergeant Josh Reynolds asked as Jake walked into the station, "I thought you had the rest of the week off"
"I do, but something has come up."
"OH?"
"Can I talk to you privately for a minute, sarg?"
"Sure, lets go in my office"
Jake followed Reynolds into his office and shut the door. Reynolds took a seat in the chair behind the desk and offered Jake the one across from him.
"What's going, Jake?"
"Sir, do you remember an Andy Hargrove? He was once engaged to Nathan's mom, Deb"
"Andy Hargrove, yea I remember him. Why?"
"He is back in town"
Jake watched as his sergeant tensed up, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, sir. I saw him at Karen's café earlier today"
"Did he say anything?"
"Not to me, but he tried to explain to Karen, Lucas and Nathan why has been gone for the last twenty years."
"Did they tell you anything?"
"Actually sir that is why I am here. He claims that he was in the witness protection program for testifying against someone in New Zealand for killing his uncle. We didn't think that fit so Peyton did some looking. It looks like he was the one who killed his uncle."
"I know"
"You know?"
"About twenty years ago, I was just a rookie. It was my first month on the job and two federal agents came into the department, they said that they were looking for a murderer who they thought might be hiding out somewhere in the state. They were showing his picture around to each of the local police departments. My partner and I were getting ready to walk out for patrol when the captain called me over to look at the photo. The man they showed me was Andy. I told the federal agents that he was here and that I knew where he was. They went after him that same day, but he got away"
"Well, he is back now. I was thinking about how he has avoided the FBI all these years. Do you think it is possible that he has someone on the inside steering his fellow colleagues in the wrong direction?"
"I think it is possible, but I also think that Andy made a fatal mistake showing his face back in this town"
"What should I do if I see him again? We don't have any jurisdiction since it is a federal case"
"Let me call my guy at the FBI. I am going to put them on alert and see if they can get someone down here."
"See if you can find someone young. I might be able to blend him into the group of friends that I have. Everyone else will accept him as an old friend of mine from Texas. I will make sure that Theresa plays along with that."
"I want to limit the people that know that he is an undercover. I don't want Andy catching on."
"I know that sir. The only one that will know will be Theresa. She is the only friend who knew me then"
"Okay. Hold here while I make this phone call."
"We need to get someone here as fast as possible. I don't know how long he is going to stick around"
Sargent Reynolds picked up the phone.
Lydia, John and Haley entered their house after dropping Peyton off. All three of them walked up the stairs towards their rooms saying goodnight to each other as they did.
Haley closed her bedroom door behind her and walked towards her dresser. She pulled out a pair of matching pajama bottoms and shirt and put them on. She grabbed her remote from her side table and turned her TV on as she sat down the bed and got under the covers. Her mind kept going back to Nathan. She could only imagine what he was thinking about all of this and he didn't even know what they had found tonight. Haley drifted off to sleep thinking of Nathan and what could be.