Chapter Six

Wolenczak Villa, later that evening…

"He just sat there," Bridger sighed, frustrated. "As if he was at the funeral of perfect strangers rather than his own parents!"

He and Kristen were in Dr. Lawrence Wolenczak's study looking through important papers to see what was what.

"I know," Kristen said, leafing through some file folders. "I'm definitely worried, Nathan. This isn't healthy behavior he's displaying…"

"I know, I know," Bridger said, removing his reading glasses and rubbing his eyes. "But I have no idea how to get him to open up. He's locked up tighter than a oyster's ass!"

Kristen chuckled at that.

"I noticed," she said, grinning. "Not a word during dinner—not even when Lt. Krieg made those awful jokes!"

"Tell me about it," Bridger said, chuckling. "Any other time, he'd have called him on it and told even worse ones!"

They both laughed, but then grew solemn again.

They were very worried about 'their' boy.

Kristen suddenly stopped leafing through files, her eyes scanning something intently.

"Nathan," she said, glancing up wide-eyed.

"What is it?" he asked, curiously.

"It's Lucas' birth certificate," she said, handing him an aged piece of paper.

"What about it?" he asked, glancing down at it and smiling. "Hey! His middle name is Nathaniel, what a coincidence!"

Kristen rolled her eyes at him. "Look at the year," she told him, swallowing hard.

"2004," he read, his mouth hanging open. "But that would mean he's only…"

"Fourteen years old," Kristen finished, nodding.

"I don't believe it," Bridger said, stunned. "How could we not have known about this?"

Kristen shook her head, clueless. "I don't know," she said, "I mean—"

Just then a knock sounded at the door.

"Sir, Ma'am," Edward, the butler's voice, sounded from the other side.

"Come in, Edward," Bridger told him, still trying to understand what they had just learned.

They could immediately tell that something was wrong by the look on the butler's face.

"What is it, Edward?" Kristen asked, concerned.

"It is young master Lucas, Sir," the butler said, concerned. "He's gone."

"Gone!" they both exclaimed, as Bridger jumped to his feet and Kristen took an involuntary step forward.

"Yes," the butler said, nodding. "He has taken one of his father's vehicles…and I'm afraid that isn't the worst of it."

"What else?" Bridger asked, not sure he wanted to know.

"He also broke into his father's liquor cabinet," The butler replied, fretfully. "A bottle of whiskey is also missing."

The implications were all too clear for them at that moment.

"Nathan!" Kristen exclaimed, but it was unnecessary as the captain was already springing into action.

"Kristen, you and Edward call the police," he ordered. "Give them a description of Lucas and of the car he took."

He headed into the entryway.

"Krieg, Ortiz, O'Neill," he shouted up the stairs. "Get down here on the double!"

"Sir?" The three men exclaimed, racing down the stairs in various stages of undress.

Katie followed them down, her hair wet and wearing a bathrobe.

"What is it, Sir?" she asked, concerned. "What's happened?"

"Lucas is what's happened," the captain exclaimed, anger and fear warring on his face. "He's taken some whiskey and gone for a little joy ride in one of his father's cars!"

"Oh boy," Ben gulped. "And I thought I'd done some dumb stunts as a kid…"

"Not now, Mr. Krieg," Bridger growled, not in the mood for the man's flippant humor. "I want you three to get keys from Edward, get your butts behind the wheels of some cars, and find him. The police are on the look out, too. Understand?"

"Aye, sir," the three said, and then raced back upstairs to get dressed again.

"Sir," Katie said, hesitantly. "Permission to go, also…"

"Sorry, Commander," he told her, firmly. "But I'd like you to stay here with Kristen in case either Lucas comes back or the police call."

"Understood, sir," she said, and then hesitated before asking, "Sir, what are you going to do?"

"I'm getting my butt behind the wheel of a car, too," he told her, determination in his voice. "And I'm going to find him."

He turned and headed for the kitchen.

He just hoped he found him in one piece…

…TBC…