4:15 PM Theresa's House in Pasadena California
Knock, Knock
A voice from the speaker with a camera came through.
"Hello?" A sweet dainty voice called.
"Is this Theresa Barrows?" Sam asked.
"Just a minute."
Just then the automatic door opened and a woman with blonde hair, green eyes, and a slender build arrived, this is Theresa Barrows.
"Yes, may I help you?" Theresa asked.
"Hi, I'm Sam, and this is Clover and Alex"
Clover and Alex greeted.
"Hi"
"Hi"
"We are from the organization called WOOHP"
They opened their IDs.
Theresa's eyes opened as if she was starting to cry and immediately hugged the girls.
"OH, MY GOODNESS! I AM SO GLAD YOU'RE HERE!"
Sam and the girls were a bit off-guard by the overwhelming welcome they got.
"Nice to meet you, too" Sam replied awkwardly.
Theresa then walked back almost shyly.
"Sorry, WOOHP has been like a second family, Jerry has been a friend of ours, and my husband works as an agent."
"We know, Dylan Barrows. He was in contact with us just a few hours ago."
"Rumor has it that Jerry spars with him." Clover jested.
"Oh, that Jerry, trying to make himself look young by challenging my husband." Theresa waved her hands.
The girls and Theresa laughed.
"Come on in. Shall l make you some tea?"
Inside the house was a comfortable place with a wooden floor, rug, and kitchen. It was a simple type of house.
"So, what brought you over to Beverly Hills?" Sam asked.
"My husband arranged for Jerry to bring me and my son here. We used to travel around the country and globe so many times since my husband was in the military"
"Can you tell us a little more about your son?" Clover asked a little more eagerly than appropriate.
"Clover!" Sam and Alex scolded.
Theresa just chuckled quietly.
"He's a good kid. Always willing to care for us"
Suddenly looking solemn Theresa added
"But ever since we had problems, we had to part ways temporarily"
Sam and the others stopped in their tracks.
"What kind of problems?" Sam asked
Theresa got sullen as she recalled them.
"It was at 6:30 pm a year ago, he was on his way home when 3 guys who he used to compete with jumped him. And another time when his part-time job was robbed."
All three girls gasped.
Theresa solemnly continues.
"He got pulled into those fights and barely made it out of those unscathed."
Sam, Clover, and Alex were shocked and a bit saddened by that story.
"Ouch"
"Brutal," Clover added
"Where is your son now?" Sam asked.
"He's at Beverly Hills with his uncle. He was so much at risk, that we had to get him as far away as possible. And with his father being overseas at WOOHP Argentina, my brother-in-law, was the best person to take him so he can be in touch with several people my husband trained with."
"What high school does he attend?" Clover asked
"We transferred him to Beverly Hills High School"
"Wow, he's definitely close," Clover remarked.
Sam looked down in deep thought: fights, Beverly Hills High School, and the strange resemblance Theresa has with Liam.
That's when she looked up with a lightbulb going off in her head.
"Mrs. Barrows, does your son have auburn hair and green eyes?"
"Yes"
"Is he…Liam?"
Clover and Alex gave a confused glance to Sam, wondering why she was asking.
"Yes"
Clover and Alex were surprised, while Sam with a serious look, nearly expected it.
Theresa responded.
"Why, is there something wrong?"
"No, it's just that…" Clover tried to speak.
"We currently attend the same high school as him" Sam broke the silence. "He's in a few of our classes."
Theresa looked surprised and almost in tears.
"You have no idea how happy this makes me," Theresa responded. "I was hoping he would meet some people like you there. How was he?"
"He's a bit…well…let's just say he knew how to make quite the entrance," Clover responded.
"Pardon?" Theresa asked
"Well, we saw him get into a fight on his very first day, only to save a student trapped inside a locker," Alex said twiddling her thumbs awkwardly
"Oh, that."
"You knew about this?" Clover asked.
Theresa nodded.
"His uncle and the school told me the whole story and as a mother should, I talked with the school officials about the whole thing via phone." Theresa scoffed in disappointment.
"So, you know the whole situation," Sam responded
"Yup, I also talked with the boy's mother about it. As much as I'm sad Liam got into a fight, It was so disappointing to find out that he was punished for helping a bullied kid when the school itself wouldn't even address the issue."
"I know, pretty messed up" Alex added.
"Yes, but he was always the type of kid. He tried to stop the people from robbing his job at the risk of his life too. He's got his dad's fighting spirit and heart."
"Speaking of his dad, does Liam know where he is and what he does?"
"No, we had to keep it secret, or else he would be in danger, only Jerry, his uncle, and I know."
The girls being spies for WOOHP and having to keep secrets themselves understood this pretty well.
Theresa feeling a sense of trust with the girls asked them to follow her.
"I would like to show you something."
Theresa and the girls went over to his room to see a plethora of trophies from various martial arts tournaments.
"Whoa," Alex responded.
"Talk about free time" Clover responded.
"Oh wow, he won the all-city championships in Pasadena. I used to attend one of them." Alex smiled.
Sam looked at the pictures of a younger Liam in those tournaments before he changed his hairstyle.
"That's him all right"
Theresa explained,
"He wasn't always a competitive kid, but we got him into martial arts as a kid. But it did a lot more for him than we realized. Because we traveled so much as a military family, he had then been trained in different styles by many people from across the world like Thailand, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and the US. Even Dylan used to train him on occasion."
"That must explain why he had those moves" Alex added.
"He's been practicing since day 1." Theresa shrugged.
"That explains why we heard rumors of him transferring schools, and getting into fights." Sam conjectured.
Sam got back on point "Anyway, we'll keep watch over your son".
"I'm glad to hear that. Thank you, girls. Is there anything else I may be of assistance with?"
"No that would be all, thank you.".
"You're welcome. Thank you for coming by girls. Be sure to send my regards to Jerry."