Wow. Just wow, wow, WOW!
No spoilers here for those of you who haven't seen the S3 finale of Walker yet but my word! What an episode! What an ending!

S4 can't get here quick enough.

Anyway, I'm back! Enjoy the update y'all.

This chapter is rated M for mentions of sexual assault, abuse, kidnapping and being held captive.

'Maddie! You're finally here!'

Maddie laughed as Rose came running down the drive towards her, the girl giving her a hug before she'd even gotten out of the car. 'Hey. I'm so sorry I'm late. My horses got out earlier-' She explained as Rose let her go, the little girl stepping back again. 'so I had to go looking for them.'

'Did you find them? Are they alright?'

'Yeah, they're alright. Dakota didn't get far, found her grazing a short distance from the paddock but Bel and Hope decided to go visit the mustang herd over at Colton's place.'

'Mustangs? There's a mustang herd? When did that happen? Tell me, tell me now!'

'If you'd let me get a word in, I'll tell you all about it.' Maddie promised with a laugh. 'And there's someone in the back who wants to meet you.'

Peering into the back seat through the window, Rose squealed with excitement. 'You've got a dog! When did you get a dog? What's her name? What's her breed?'

'Looks like someone's excited you're here.' Abeline remarked with a chuckle as she brought Maddie's wheelchair over for her. 'Hello Rose.'

'Hello Abeline.' She replied politely before turning back to Maddie to continue her onslaught of questions. 'Can I pat your dog? Why didn't you tell me you've got a dog?'

'One question at a time, little one.' Maddie told her as she moved from the car to her wheelchair. Wheeling herself back Abeline closed the door for her and Maddie opened the back door. Sasha sat patiently on the seat, tail wagging as she waited to be allowed out of the car. 'Come.'

'Oh she's so cute!' Rose exclaimed as the dog jumped out and sat beside Maddie's chair. 'Can I give her a pat? Please?'

'Yes, you may.'

'Thank you! Thank you!'

Abeline smiled, grabbing Maddie's backpack for her from the backseat and placed it on her lap. 'Hope you have a good visit.' She remarked softly to Maddie as Rose fussed over her dog. 'I've packed you some muffins in your bag to share with Rose.'

'Brilliant.'

Reaching back into the car she pulled out Sasha's harness, cape and lead. 'Don't forget these either, in case you need them.'

'What would I do without you?' Maddie questioned with a chuckle as Abeline placed her gear on top of her backpack.

'Forget everything.' She teased, giving Maddie a kiss on her forehead. 'Have fun girls.'

'We will.'

'And text me when you want me to pick you up.'

'Mmhmm.' Maddie nodded. 'Will do.'

Abeline turned back to Rose. 'Don't be too cheeky for my Maddie girl, you hear?'

'Me? Cheeky?' She giggled, giving her a hug. 'Never.'

'Yeah, I've heard that before.' Abeline chuckled, ruffling her hair. 'I'll see you later. Bye.'

'Bye.'

Maddie gave her grandmother a little wave then clicked her fingers, Sasha trotting alongside her wheelchair as she and Rose headed up the path to the house. 'So, how's school been?'

'Good. I've made lots of new friends but none as nice as you.'

Maddie smiled at that.

'What's your dog's name?'

'Sasha.'

'When did you get her?'

'Last week.'

'Last week!' Rose repeated with surprise, opening the front door for her. 'Why didn't you tell me?'

'I've had a lot going on sweetheart.' Maddie replied, wheeling herself into the house. 'Oh… Wow…' She breathed out, looking around. Rose's house was fancy, the fanciest house she had ever been in. I knew they had money but gees… This place is a palace! She thought, noticing the marble flooring and the mahogany staircase leading to the floor above. If she'd thought the house was fancy from the outside, nothing had prepared her for how fancy it was on the inside.

'Come on.' Rose invited, prompting Maddie from her thoughts. 'Mama's in the kitchen making snacks.'

'Well, lead the way then.'

With an excited giggle, Rose started through the house with Maddie following along behind. 'I can't believe you finally got to come over. I've been waiting for ages to come have you visit.' An idea came to mind and she stopped with a gasp, turning back to the older girl. 'We should have a sleepover! We could watch movies and eat chocolate and not go to sleep till its morning-'

Maddie chuckled as Rose continued on, her voice fading away as she looked around the house. It looked like one of those mansions you saw in a magazine at the doctors office, crisp white walls and white carpet, extravagant paintings hung on the walls and tables with decorative marble statues placed on them. I am so, so out of my league here…

'Maddie's here Mama!'

'I can see that.' Jenny replied as she looked up from her cooking, smiling. 'Afternoon Maddie.'

Maddie smiled back, Sasha lying down beside her wheelchair as she stopped in front of the island bench. 'Afternoon Jenny. Are you sure you don't mind me having Sasha in the house? I mean, you're sure it's alright?'

'It's fine. Promise.'

'Just making sure…'

'So that's Sasha?' She questioned, adding another ball of cookie dough onto the baking tray.

'Mmhmm. This is Sasha.'

Rose looked up at her mother. 'You knew Maddie had a dog and you didn't tell me?'

'We wanted to surprise you.' Jenny chuckled. 'But Sasha's not just any ordinary dog, she's got a very special job to do.'

She frowned, looking at Maddie then down at the dog. 'Like what?'

'Sasha's a service dog.'

'What's a service dog?'

'A service dog is a dog trained to help people. You know what a guide dog is, don't you?'

Rose nodded. 'They help blind people. I've seen them while we've been shopping. Mama says we can't pat them because they're working.'

'That's right.'

'But you aren't blind.'

Maddie chuckled, patting Sasha. 'No, no I'm not but Sasha helps in other ways. See this?' She held up her harness. 'She wears this and she helps me keep my balance when I'm trying to walk so I don't fall over.'

'That's so cool! What else can she do?'

'Well, she can help me take my socks off, she can open doors, she can fetch items-'

'She can do a lot!' Rose interrupted in awe.

'Yes, yes, she does.'

'Can she do tricks too?'

'Oh yeah, she can do tricks.'

'Can you show me?'

'Sure. Sasha-' The dog lifted her head at hearing her name called. 'Up.'

Sasha stood, moving to stand in front of her.

Making a finger gun she pointed it at the dog. 'Bang! You're dead.'

Pretending to stagger, Sasha slowly moved around in a circle before dropping to the ground, lying on her back with all four paws in the air. Apart from the tip of her tail wagging, she didn't move.

Rose laughed. 'Did you see that Mama? She can play dead.'

'Yeah, I saw that.' Jenny chuckled, placing the tray of cookies into the oven. 'Why don't you show Maddie around? You two could go take Sasha out to play in the garden out back while the cookies bake.'

'Sure. Come on Maddie-' Rose started down the hallway. 'Let's go.'

With a chuckle Maddie clicked her fingers and Sasha rolled over, quickly getting up. 'Coming Rose. Coming.'

Cordell and Cassie stood back with the truck, the two of them looking at the box of evidence he'd placed on the dirt road away from their vehicle. The box was still beeping but why, neither of them knew.

'We're just going to leave this here?' Cassie questioned after a moment. 'What's in the box?'

'No, no.' Cordell grabbed her arm to stop her from approaching the box. 'You stay back.'

'Wait… Are you thinking bomb?'

'Well, you're spooked, too.' He pointed out, looking down at her.

'Yeah, but the lab and the point officer obviously would have swept for anything suspicious.'

'Okay.' Cordell nodded in agreement. He knew that but still… 'Yeah, right, then tell me it's impossible. Exactly. You can't.'

'It could be anything.' Cassie replied, that annoying pinging continuing.

'And it could be dangerous.'

'We don't even know what this case is related to. So it could be a tracker or a kitchen timer, or it could be a damn Furby.'

'Yeah, I'm gonna call James and the bomb squad.' Cordell replied as he took his phone from his pocket. Damn! ' I-I guess I'm not gonna call James and the bomb squad. I don't have any service. Have you?' Cassie pulled her phone from her pocket and shook her head. 'Great.'

'Yeah. We should've brought a radio. The system in the truck doesn't work without service.'

'Yeah.'

'All right, well,' She looked up at Cordell. 'you're the ranking officer. What do we do?'

'All right, so the beeping makes me think it's on a timer, not a pressure trigger,' He paused. 'but opening the case could compromise whatever investigation it's linked to.'

'Yeah, okay. Off your timer theory, not opening it could get us blown up. So, not ideal. Yeah.

'Not ideal. Yeah.' He agreed.

'So…'

'So, uh,' He took the key that Cassie was holding from her. 'we're doing this.'

Walking back to the box he motioned for her to keep back, Cassie stopping halfway between the box and the trunk. Kneeling down in front of the box he took a moment to steady his nerves before carefully placing the key into the padlock, unlocking the box. Dropping the padlock on the ground he went to lift the lid, pausing to take a deep breath. His hands began to shake as he hesitated. What if it was a bomb? What if… He looked back over his shoulder at Cassie. He couldn't let her get killed as well. 'Get back. Further back. Go back to the truck.'

After a moment, Cassie retreated back to the truck.

Turning back to the box, Cordell took another deep breath then lifted the lid. Fully expecting an explosion, he was surprised when nothing happened. Instead, watches in plastic evidence bags lay atop files, the pinging being an alarm on one of them. Oh god… He breathed with relief, running his hand over his face.

Cassie approached, looking over his shoulder into the box. 'Well, at least we didn't go boom.'

'Yeah. At least,' He reached into the box and pulled out the bag of watches. 'uh, we didn't go boom. No, DEFCON 5 for a bunch of cheap plastic watches.' He stood, the alarm ended when he turned it off through the bag. 'And no service so I can't even let Augie know I'm not gonna make it now or wish him good luck on his flag football game. Yeah, that's great. Yeah.'

'Walker, how could we have known?'

'Huh,' He looked down at the watches, noting the time. 'alarms are all set for 1400 hours. Every day at the same time, the mercenaries would, uh,' He paused for a moment, trying to keep the memories at bay while still getting his words out. 'would-would come and, uh, come and take us. Julia, the other prisoner, above me, the journalist. She ah… She was keeping track long before I got there. Every day at the same time, they would, uh…'

'Right.' Cassie said as he handed the bag of watches to her, getting the gist of what he was saying when his voice trailed off.

'Right.'

Looking down at the bag, she frowned. 'I guess the mercs had a name. "Grey Flag." Huh.'

'All right.' Gaining control of himself again he motioned for her to return the watches to the box. 'We should get back on the road.'

Nodding, Cassie knelt down in front of the box and placed the watches back, about to close the box up when she noticed the top file had a photograph of Cordell sticking out. 'What the hell's this?'

Coming to Rose's bedroom, Maddie raised her eyebrows in surprise as she looked around. Rose's bedroom was huge. A king sized four-poster bed sat in the middle of the room along the wall, a massive flat screen tv set on the wall in front of it. The wall the bed sat against was painted a medium pink with darker pink butterflies set against it, matching the draping curtains, the bedspread and the curtains hung around her bed. The wall looking out into the garden was made from glass doors, leading out onto a large balcony overlooking the garden and pool below.

'Wow…' Maddie couldn't help but exclaim in amazement as she slowly walked into the room with Sasha's help, her dog guiding her over to the nearest seat which was a chair at Rose's desk. 'This is your room?'

'Yep. This is my room.' Rose replied. 'It's it great?'

'Yeah, it's awesome.'

'And the bed is so soft.' She ran towards it and jumped onto the bed, giggling as she rolled over and turned back to Maddie. 'Come on. It's awesome fun.'

'I don't think I'm quite up to running just yet.' Maddie said as she slowly caught her breath from getting up the stairs. While she had a long way to go, she was making progress at being able to walk again and having Sasha to help her had been a godsend. Her job finished for the moment, Sasha laid down at her feet, resting her head on her paws. 'Those stairs were a little much.'

'Are you okay?'

'I'm alright. Just a little worn out.'

'But you're walking again.'

'Yeah.' She smiled. 'I'm walking again. Slowly.'

'And Sasha is so awesome. I saw how she was helping you get up the stairs. She's a superstar.'

'Mmmhmm. She is.' Maddie agreed, continuing to look around the room. The desk she sat at was set up with a gaming computer, bookshelves beside and above the desk filled with books. Most of them were beyond what she guessed Rose could read and after a moment, she realized why. This room belonged to the daughter they had lost.

'You wanna see Mary and Patches?'

'Sure.' She turned back to Rose, stirred from her thoughts. 'But aren't they downstairs?'

Nope.' Hopping off the bed she hurried across the room to their hutch and opened the door to let the two rabbits out.

Maddie chuckled as the two bunnies came over to investigate Sasha. She'd been in such awe of Rose's room that she hadn't even noticed the large hutch set back in the corner. 'I didn't even see them over there. You have the rabbits in your room?'

'Yep.'

'But wouldn't they mess on the carpet?'

'Nope.' Rose came back over, sitting down on the floor with her rabbits and Sasha. Sasha was still lying with her head on her paws, only her eyes watching as the rabbits began sniffing her over. 'They're little box trained, like your cat. They only do their business in their little box. I just clean it out every morning and night and no problems.'

Patches came over to her and Maddie picked her up, placing her down on her lap. 'Look at you hey? Living the high life.'

Rose giggled. 'They do get a little spoiled.'

'Just a little?'

'Okay. Maybe a lot then.'

'Yeah. That's better.'

'I've been teaching them how to do agility too.' Rose continued, smiling as Mary began climbing over Sasha. Completely uninterested in the rabbit, Sasha let out a bored sigh. 'They're getting really good at it. Maybe even good enough to do competitions soon.'

Maddie raised an eyebrow. 'What's rabbit agility?'

'Same thing as dog agility. You guide them over a series of obstacles. I'll show you.' Getting up Rose walked over to the doorway in the wall beside the tv and opened the door, disappearing into her closet. A moment later she returned with a plastic jump that she placed down on the floor then went back in to grab the next item. By the time she'd finished, she'd set up an entire course made of jumps, tunnels, hoop jumps and even a mini A frame. 'Come here Mary. Come on.' She shook a plastic bag with treats in them, both the rabbits lifting their heads at the sound. 'Come show Maddie what we do.'

A smile spread across Maddie's lips as she watched Rose take Mary over the course, the little bunny going through the obstacles with ease. Of course it helped that after each jump or other obstacle, Rose would give her a little treat. As they came to the last jump, Maddie began to clap. 'Well done.'

Rose giggled, offering Mary the last treat she had. 'We've been practicing.'

'I can see that.'

'I'll show you what Patches can do in a moment. She's even faster then Mary. I've just got to run down and find some more treats. I'll be back in a second.'

'There's no-' Rose had already bolted out the door and she chuckled as she scratched Patch's chin. 'hurry. Rose is just an ever ready bunny, wouldn't you say?' Patch's only reply was a wiggle of her nose. 'Yep. Thought you'd agree with me.' After giving her a couple more pats she gently placed her down on the ground beside Mary and began looking up at the shelves above her.

A photograph set way up high on the top shelf caught her eye and after a moment she carefully stood, Sasha lifting her head to keep an eye on her. Reaching the photo frame she grabbed hold of it then slowly sat back down on the seat. Looking at the picture, her heart broke. Tears came to her eyes and she bit her lip as she ran her fingers over the glass then glanced towards the door that Rose had disappeared out of.

It was a photo of Rose with her blood parents when she was about four years old.

She recognized who they were.

Cali and Bruce.

Sitting back in the truck a short time later, Cordell and Cassie were reading through the files the box had contained. There were a ton of files, apparently confiscated from the hospital as well as others that had been sourced from various places. As Cassie kept reading the information on the papers in one of the files she was looking through, Cordell reached for one she'd already gone through.

'No-no, don't-' Cassie protested, trying to take the file from him so he couldn't read what it contained. 'You don't want to read that one.'

Cordell looked over at Cassie. 'Cassie. Let go.'

The two of them looked at each other silently until finally, Cassie relented and let go. 'Walker.'

'Yeah?'

'I honestly don't think you reading through that file is a good idea.'

'Why not?'

'It's Maddie's file.' She revealed after a moment. 'Now I don't know how much you know of what happened to Maddie… But that file, Walker, it contains information about everything that happened to her in…'

'In captivity?' He finished for her.

Cassie nodded.

'Look, Cassie, I can handle it.'

She looked at her partner. 'Can you?' She questioned with concern in her tone. 'Walker, I know I haven't told you before but I was the one who took her statement down and what she went through…' She sighed heavily, shaking her head. 'I don't think you can handle reading that file.'

Cordell bit his lip, looking down at the closed file in his hands. 'I-I'm her father, Cassie.'

'What do you know?' She questioned after a moment, seeing him hesitating to open the file. 'What has Maddie told you?'

'Nothing…' He finally replied as he looked back at her. 'Maddie… Maddie and I haven't spoken about… About what happened in-in there. As far… As far as I know, she hasn't spoken to anyone.'

Cassie nodded, thinking about what he'd said.

'I just…' Cordell looked back down at the file in his hands. 'I-I don't know how to help her, Cassie. I don't know what to do. She-she tried to speak to me and each time she did, I shut her down. I wouldn't listen to her. Now… Now she won't talk about it.'

'Maddie has been through a lot.'

'Yeah. Yeah, I-I know…' He nodded. 'But this… This is different from anything we've dealt with before, you know.' He said, turning back to her. 'I-I was there for her when her father died, I've been there for her when she was diagnosed with that brain tumor but now… I don't know how to be here for her. I just… I don't know what to do.'

Cassie looked at her partner, the first cracks in the facade he'd so carefully built around himself appearing. 'Walker…' She placed her hand gently on his. 'I know you will find a way to help Maddie.'

He nodded, swallowing the rising lump in his throat.

'I believe in you.' She continued. 'I am here for you. You know that, right?'

'Yeah…'

'It's not my place to tell you what Maddie said to me in her statement but it's your decision if you wish to read through that file or not.' Cordell nodded at what she said and she gently squeezed his hand before returning her attention to the file on her lap, giving him space to be able to read through the file if he chose to do so.

Looking down at the file in his hands, Cordell deliberated with himself about looking through the file. Cassie did make a point. Was he ready to read through her statement? On the other hand however, if he didn't, when would he have a chance to look at this material again? When would Maddie open up to him about it? If he read through her statement, maybe by knowing what she went through, he'd be able to help her.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the file and then immediately wished he hadn't.

Cassie looked over at her partner as Cordell's hand came to his mouth. She knew what he was looking at. On the top of the file were photographs. Photographs of the injuries Maddie had sustained during captivity. Turning back to the file on her lap, she swallowed the lump in her throat. It had been hard enough for her to see Maddie that night but Cordell seeing them as her father? I tried to tell you… She thought as she tried her best to involve herself back into her reading, trying to give him some privacy to look through the file.

My god… Cordell felt nauseated as he looked at the photos taken of Maddie's injuries. When he and Liam had helped her the night before they'd escaped he hadn't realized just how beaten up she'd been. For the purpose of taking photos for evidence she'd been stripped down to her underwear, revealing the extent of her injuries. There was hardly an inch on her that wasn't covered in bruising and as he looked at the photos, another thought came to mind.

What if… What if they had raped her?

'C-cassie…' His voice broke as he turned to her, his partner looking up from his reading. 'Did… Did they… Was… Was Maddie…'

'Raped?' She questioned softly as his voice trailed off and he nodded, looking back down at the file on his lap. 'No. She wasn't.'

He breathed out a shaky sigh of relief, biting his lip.

'It's all in her statement. She wasn't raped but she was sexually assaulted.' She replied as gently as she could. 'You… You didn't know?'

Cordell shook his head.

'I-I'm sorry.' Cassie paused. 'You don't have to look through the rest of the file.'

'No. No. I ah… I-I need to. I need to understand what she went through.' He replied after a long moment, tears in his eyes as he looked back at Cassie. 'I need to know how to help her.'

She nodded in understanding, turning back to her reading.

Taking a deep breath, Cordell picked up her medical report and continued to read through it. While also detailing her injuries and treatment, the doctor that had been in charge of her care had also given a statement to give credit to the report and her injuries. …It is in my opinion that had Miss Walker been subjected to further mistreatment and the conditions experienced within captivity, Miss Walker would not have survived. These injuries in conjunction with her having been administered chemotherapy treatment and the damage her heart sustained due to her port would have resulted in her slowly bleeding to death in a matter of hours. It is only by divine intervention that Miss Walker was able to receive medical treatment in a timely fashion and in time I expect a full recovery. However, the mental scars that she will have to live with…

His eyes were blurred with tears by the time he finished reading through her medical report and the doctor's statement, the reality that if she'd been there much longer he would have lost her sinking in. Maddie could have died in his arms… That lump in his throat was getting bigger as his eyes watered and he sniffled, Cassie silently handing him a tissue before she returned to her reading.

Blowing his nose he took a good moment to try and pull himself together, a thousand thoughts racing through his mind. He'd heard bits and pieces of Liam giving his statement, he knew what his brother had been through for the most part but Maddie… He didn't know anything. Making a fist he swallowed, looking out the window as a couple tears slid down his cheek. Maddie had tried to talk to him. She'd needed to talk to him and he hadn't been there for her.

When he'd finally gained control of his emotions again, he turned his attention back to the file and turned the medical report over, a copy of her x-rays beneath the report and the doctor's statement. Three cracked ribs, she'd been lucky that was all she'd gotten in that department. For that part, she was also lucky that she hadn't ended up with internal bleeding into the bargain.

Placing those aside, he finally came to her statement. Maddie had begun right at the beginning, when she and Liam had been kidnapped from the hospital. As he read through her statement, how she'd seen Liam being beaten and knocked out, witnessing them murder the policeman assigned to protect them then trying to get help and failing, he knew this was only going to get much, much worse before he came to the end of her statement.

She spoke about the first instance of sexual assault, how one of the thugs had been touching her when he'd been searching her for her phone and any other things on her person. She'd described the man too, Cordell realizing from her description that he'd been one of the guys that had been helping Neo torture him at the start. Continuing on, she spoke of how they'd drugged Liam and how she couldn't do anything then about them being reunited with him in the cell.

He had to stop for a moment, taking a breather from reading to stare back out the window. With what he'd read so far, was it any wonder Maddie had begun to drink? If how he was plagued by memories was anything to go by, no wonder she had turned to the bottle…

Flipping the page, he began to read the second page of her statement.

Maddie spoke of how he'd been taken away by the guards and then how Liam had been taken also and that she'd tried to stop them but hadn't been able to, being left alone in the cage. He read about what she'd witnessed when they'd brought Liam back. About how they had tortured him. He bit the inside of his lip, tasting blood in his mouth a moment later. It had been bad enough to overhear how he'd been treated but Maddie had seen it all.

Turning the page, he came to her account of her meeting with Sean.

I was taken from the cell by Sean's guards. They blindfolded me and carried me to another room in the hospital. Sean was there. He offered me food. I refused. Sean began talking about why Uncle Liam and I were here. He wanted to use us to break Dad. We were his insurance to make Dad join him. He wanted me to convince Dad to join them. When I wouldn't, he took a pistol from his desk. I thought I was going to die…

Cordell had to pause again, swallowing the lump in his throat once more before he looked back at the paper.

He had his men blindfold me then he pulled the trigger. It was a blank. He'd did it to scare me into agreeing to convince Dad to join his team. He said if I didn't convince Dad, he'd kill Uncle Liam and it would be my fault. Then, he had his men take me into another room.

There were three of them, one of them being the guy from the van. They held me down and stripped my clothes off me before beating me with their fists and their boots. One guy came in, he was taking a video with a phone. When they stopped, they took turns to touch me inappropriately. They joked about raping me and they were going to until Sean came. He made them stop. I don't remember much, I tried to blank it out but I heard him say that he wanted to save my rape for later. He wanted Dad to watch me be raped if he didn't join them as punishment for not going along with his plans. After that, he made them dress me again and take me back to the cell with Dad and Uncle Liam…

Silent rage began to well up inside him upon reading what they had done to her. It was just providential that Sean wasn't in the picture anymore for if he had been, he was the one person that could drive him to commit murder. No one, no one, hurt his children and got away with it.

No one.

After a moment he continued on, Maddie recounting their escape from the hospital and how Captain James and Cassie had turned up at the last moment, saving their lives. As he came to the end and saw Maddie's signature at the bottom of the page beside Cassie's and then thirdly, Captain James, he had to choke back tears.

Maddie.

His poor Maddie…

After reading that statement, he was more at a loss than ever to know how to help her. What she had been through… He rested his head back against the headrest of his seat, his vision blurred by tears. He had failed her. He had failed to protect her. He had failed to be there for her.

'Walker…' Cassie spoke softly, turning her attention to him as she saw he'd finished with the file. 'You okay?'

'N-no.' He admitted after a moment, his voice breaking. 'I-I had no idea that… I-I didn't know what-what Maddie… What Maddie went through. I-I didn't know… I just didn't know…' He bit his lip again, trying to hold back his tears. 'I just… I-I need to have a moment. I-I'm just… I-I'm-' He placed the file back into the box and opened the door to get out of the truck. 'I-I need a minute. I-I'm sorry…'

'It's alright partner.' Cassie replied softly with a nod. 'Take all the time you need. I'll be right here.'

'Uh, yeah. I-I'm gonna need a few hours, but, uh…'

Stella looked over curiously as she overheard her Aunt on the phone later that afternoon, wondering what the phone call was about.

'Okay, yeah. Send me the details. Bye.'

Stepping back over to the food van, she looked up at Geri. 'Hey, everything okay?'

Not seeming to notice her question, Geri looked over at August as he trudged by, his clothes rather covered with mud. 'Hey. Whoa, I thought it was no contact.'

'Yeah, it's supposed to be low contact,' He replied, joining his sister at the food van. 'but I got all of it.'

'Yeah. I can see that.' She turned back to her niece as August walked off again. 'Uh, hey, Stel, I, uh, I got to go take care of something. So I'm gonna have someone come here, help you pack all this stuff up, and once you're done, just consider yourself off for the night.'

'We're not opening on a Friday night?' Stella questioned, wondering what was so important that Geri wanted to have the bar closed for the evening.

'It's not ideal, but, yeah. I mean, we're already closed, so I'll keep in touch, okay?'

She nodded and Geri turned to gather her things to leave, Stella going back over to her brother after a moment. 'Hey,' He looked up from his phone at her as she walked over. 'I'm sorry Dad bailed on the game. He's been trying really hard to show up for us lately.'

'Yeah, show up for you and Maddie maybe.' August huffed.

'What does that mean?'

'It's whatever. Stella, I'm used to it. And, um, you know, who needs friends or a skip day anyway?'

'W-W-Wait.' She started as he went to leave, her brother turning back to her. 'I'm off now since the Side Step is closed. Why don't you come hang out with Todd and me? There's, like, one of these sing-along things at the Drafthouse.'

August just looked at her. 'You really don't get it, do you? Whatever, Stella. Enjoy your movie.'

Stella's mouth dropped open as August left and she shook her head. What on earth was his problem?

Walking away, a smirk spread across his face as an idea came to mind. 'I can do better than a skip day.' He murmured beneath his breath as Brock and Scooter came to join him. 'What's up, boys?'

The driver's side door was opened, Cassie looking over as Cordell returned, sitting back down in the seat. 'How… How are you?'

'I'm fine.' He replied, having regained his composure during the long walk he'd taken to clear his head. 'Just… Just fine.' He looked back over at Cassie, his partner still looking through files. 'Find anything?'

Cassie was a little surprised at his seemingly nonchalant behavior, given what had occurred earlier. 'Are you sure you're okay?'

'What do you want me to say Cassie?' He questioned, turning to her. That hey, why do I care that my daughter was sexually assaulted? Doesn't matter. No biggie. Or-or that the fact the doctor wrote that given a few more hours, Maddie would have been dead! Do you think I'm okay?'

'Yeah…' She let out a long sigh at Cordell's angry outburst. 'You make a point.'

'I-I'm sorry.' Cordell apologized, looking down at his hands. 'It's just… It's a lot to take in.'

Cassie nodded in understanding. 'I know. That's why I didn't want you to go through the file.'

'Yeah. Yeah. I can see why now.' He agreed then cleared his throat. 'Well ah… It-it makes sense now how Maddie ended up drunk a couple weeks back.'

'Maddie's been drinking? Geez man.' She shook her head. 'What happened?'

'Maddie went out trail riding with her friends. There was a gunshot, she had a panic attack and now-' He tapped a finger on her file in the box. 'now I know why. It must have sent her over the edge, Mom found her locked in her bedroom, she had to break in through the window. Maddie got into Dad's moonshine. Got herself blind, throwing up on the floor drunk.'

'I'm sorry Walker. That's a lot to deal with.'

'Yeah. Maddie doesn't even know I know. After reading through that…' His voice trailed off and he paused for a moment. 'I need a strong drink. Or two.' He paused again then turned to Maddie. 'You… You've known about this the whole time.'

Cassie nodded. 'I wanted to tell you but James wanted to keep it confidential. We didn't know how much you knew and we thought that it would be better if we didn't tell you.'

'Yeah well… I know now.'

'Yeah…' She agreed quietly.

'So-' Cordell cleared his throat again, looking back down at the files on her lap in an attempt to change the subject of conversation. 'Back to this. What did you find?'

'Well, I did find something… Compared to Miles, Fenton was their inside guy and his file starts halfway through his time as a Ranger.'

'Okay, well, you know, Miles was an outsider, so…'

'Yeah, but, no, here, look, see, your file…' She took the thickest file down from off the dash. 'It's kind of insane. You've got military discharge papers. Stella's birth. Maddie's adoption.' She opened the file to show him one of the pages covered in notes, notes all about Cordell. 'There's all these scribbles, tons of notes. Dental records. It's like Grey Flag was obsessed.'

'Hmm. Guess these must be the files that Sean was quoting to me.' He replied after thinking it over for a moment. 'I mean, it makes perfect sense, Cass. You know, them having all this info. It's classic psyops.'

'Right, but still…'

'But still nothing.' He replied as she took another file from the pile on the dash. 'It doesn't matter. You know, Grey Flag, they're all finished, locked up.' He saw she was hardly listening to him as she looked at the paper inside the file. 'What?'

"Cassie was a Ranger, Cassie loses partner, Cassie freaks out, And Cassie gets duped by douchebag Sean." She read for the page. 'Yeah, it is not even worth a second page. Wow. This really makes my life seem sad.'

'Cass, maybe it's because you haven't been a Ranger very long.'

'Again. Dental records.' She pointed out.

'Okay, again, we are-' He took the files from her and returned them to the box, gathering up the rest of the files strewn around the truck to return also. 'uh, we're done with this.'

'Wait, what?'

'This is pointless. Cass, I mean, these files are nothing but a bunch of Looney Tunes thinking they're MI-6. And we are going to prove them wrong. The first stop,' Finished with returning the files to the evidence locker, he put his seatbelt on again. 'Perez Prime Cuts. I hear it's an anniversary.'

'Wait, wait, hold up,' She protested. 'what about the evidence?'

'You heard James. It only has to be delivered by midnight tonight, and it will be.'

'You're serious?' Cassie questioned hopefully.

Cordell nodded. 'As a heart attack. The delivery can wait, but starting this whole "trauma-less chapter," as you put it, cannot. And besides…' He looked down at the box. 'I could do without thinking about what I just read for a couple hours.''

'So…' She reached for her seatbelt. 'brisket?'

'Brisket.'

'Ah yes!'

Maddie just sat looking at the picture, absolutely dumbfounded at what her eyes were seeing. Right there in front of her was a photo of her father with the hired killer Cali. Rose is his daughter! She realized, remembering that Stan had mentioned he'd had a child. You lied to me Stan… She thought angrily as it dawned on her. She had a sister. Rose was her sister. And Stan had known the entire time.

'I'm back.' Rose exclaimed as she bounded back in, Maddie looking up from the photo she was holding. 'Ready?'

'I um… Rose…' She paused for a moment. 'Who-who's in the photo?'

Rose frowned and came over to look at the picture. 'Oh that's my real Mommy and Daddy. They're in heaven now so that's why Mama looks after me now.'

Maddie swallowed, looking at the photograph. In those words, Rose had unknowingly confirmed what she had just realized. 'You-you know… I um…' Sasha looked up at her, taking notice that Maddie was beginning to bounce her knee. 'I-I'm not feeling very good so um… I-I think I'm gonna have to go.'

'So soon? You just got here.'

'I know. I-I'm sorry honey but I'm not feeling very good at all.'

Rose sighed heavily. 'You better go home then.'

'I'm really sorry Rose.'

'I know. It's okay.' She assured her. 'Mama said you're still sick. You can't help it if you feel bad.'

'Yeah… Tell you what… I just realized I never gave you anything for your birthday. Is it okay if I borrow this picture and I'll make a drawing of it for you.'

'Sure. You can take it. I can't wait to see it!'

'Thanks.' Maddie slipped the photo frame into her backpack and grabbed her phone from her pocket, ringing Mika. 'Hey Mika, got a minute?'

'Yeah. What's up?'

'I need a lift. I'm at Rose's house and I need to get home. I'm not feeling well.'

'Alright. I'll be there in fifteen or so.'

'Thanks Mika. Appreciate it.'

'See you soon.'

Ending the call she returned her phone to her pocket and slowly stood, Rose returning her rabbits to their hutch as she carefully made her way back to the door with Sasha's help. 'Can you grab my backpack please?'

'Sure.'

'Thanks.' Slowly and cautiously, holding onto the handrail with one hand and Sasha's handle in the other, Maddie navigated her way back down the stairs again.

'I was just about to bring these up.' Jenny exclaimed, a plate of chocolate chip cookies in her hand. 'But you beat me too it.'

'Maddie has to go home Mama.' Rose spoke up as they came into the kitchen. 'She's not feeling well.'

'Are you alright Maddie?'

'Just feeling off ma'am.' She replied as she sat down in her wheelchair. 'I just need to get home.'

'I can take you home if you like.'

'Oh, it's fine. I've already got someone coming to pick me up, thank you. I'll ah-I'll just go wait out on the front porch.'

'Alright. It was good to see you Maddie.'

'Likewise.'

'Go see her out Rose, it's proper manners.'

Rose nodded. 'Yes Mama.'

Jogging ahead, Rose opened the door for Maddie and she stopped her wheelchair on the porch to wait for Mika, Sasha laying down beside her as Rose gave her back her backpack. 'I'm sorry you're not feeling well. I wish you could have stayed longer.'

'I know. I'm sorry. I'll come back soon though, promise.'

Rose smiled a little at that.

'You better go clean up your room. Your Mama might get a little upset if she sees all that mess.'

'Don't you want me to stay with you?'

'I'm okay. I wouldn't want you to get into trouble. Go on.'

'Alright.' Rose gave her a hug. 'I'll see you soon then.'

'Mmhmm.'

After Rose had gone back inside, Maddie opened her bag again and pulled the picture out. Rose… Her sister? It was hard to believe that could even be a possibility but Rose had confirmed it. Her father and Cali were her parents. They were step-siblings.

Her parents don't even know. She realized after a moment, thinking of Jenny and her husband. Cali had to have been the sister she spoke of that had passed in a car accident, Rose's mother. If they knew Rose had a step sister out there, they couldn't know it was her. Her past wasn't one she spoke much of and since her adoption, everyone knew her as Walker these days. Besides, she didn't even have her father's last name, her mother having registered her instead with her maiden name. Stan lied to me…

'Maddie.' Mika jogged up the path to her, Maddie looking up from the picture she was holding. 'Are you okay?'

'I'm fine.'

'When why did you ring? I just ran out on the team show jumping class because it sounded urgent.'

'It is.' Maddie replied. 'I need you to take me to visit the jail. There's someone I need to talk to.'