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In Brandy Station, Jack and Sue met up with an old acquaintance, Horace Tucker, at the confectionery inside of a gas station. They knew for a fact that Horace and Wanda had a history, so he would be the most ideal person to talk to. The man didn't change much. He still looked like himself, had his dopey, yet charming and honest personality, and he would ask about Tara's wellbeing every now and then. Jack wasn't sure if he should break the man's heart and tell him that Tara was committed to someone else at the moment.

While seated outside, waiting for their pizza slices to be warmed, Jack pulled out a photo of Wanda. They needed confirmation that it was indeed her. "Horace, I want you to tell me who this is."

Horace took a good look at the photo. Immediately, he said, "It's Wanda."

"Great," Jack said, "Just as we suspected."

Horace's face fell. "Wait, is Wanda in trouble for something? She can't be. She doesn't get mixed up in crazy stuff…well…not like I do at least."

Sue said, "Wanda isn't in trouble, but can you tell me everything you know about her as of late?"

"Who doesn't?" Horace answered, "The biggest thing that's happened to her is that she's married to Gregory Barnes; the CEO of a trucking company here in the community. She doesn't do much waitressing anymore, because Gregory is as rich as a neurosurgeon. You should see their house in town."

"Anything else?"

"She still waitresses part time, because she enjoys the company of people and the gossip that comes with it."

Jack then asked, "What about them as a married couple? Do they go on vacations together?"

"Oh, yes," Horace said, "They should be at their cottage right now. They go fishing there a lot; probably three or four times a year. It makes sense to go there right now as the fish are pretty fat."

Jack questioned again, "How long are they gone for?"

Horace replied, "I think they're gone for two weeks."

Sue asked, "And where is their cottage?"

Horace answered, "It's in Lake Moomaw here in Virginia. It's about a four hour drive from here. Usually, they go there for a month or two, but because it's late fall, they only stay there for a couple of weeks for fishing only…are you sure Wanda is not in trouble?"

Jack nodded, and gave a half smile for reassurance. "She's not in trouble. We have a friend that went with her somewhere spontaneously, and we are concerned about him. He's got issues, and he doesn't know Wanda very well, so we want to make sure that he's okay, and not confused or something. Once we find him, and see that he's doing fine on his own, we will leave him alone and go back to D.C."

Horace understood, "Oh, I see…well, Wanda has always been a pretty impulsive person, so I'm not surprised. I hope you find your friend. I know what it's like being concerned about a friend. He went hunting and never came back. I had a vision that he was in trouble, so I called the police and they found him dead; he'd been trampled by a moose."

Sue consoled, "Aw…I'm sorry to hear that Horace."

Horace shrugged, "It's okay. He kind of had it coming. He was always mean to moose, especially when he was drinking."

This was awkward. After clearing her throat, Sue continued, "Do you know what Wanda's cottage looks like?"

Horace shook his head. "I'm a hunter, not a fisherman. I like to go up north and stay in the bush, not in a state park. Also, Wanda and I aren't the best of pals anymore, so I'm not really involved in her life. However, I heard that the area she lives in isn't very big, so I'm sure the process of elimination will come in handy for you guys."

Jack sighed. "You don't say."

Myles was lying on the shore of Lake Moomaw, far away from the people who invited him here. This morning, they brought him to the beginner stage, and taught him how to fish in very shallow water. After two hours, he decided to drift a mile away and fish by himself; he couldn't handle their personalities anymore. They were too happy, their inside jokes were confusing, repetitive and terrible, they liked to talk while carrying a tune, and wouldn't shut up about the latest gossip in Brandy Station. It was apparent that they liked to hear themselves talk. He came here for peace and quiet, not a soap opera. He also found them highly narcissistic. They liked to talk about themselves, and never wanted to know anything about him; not that he was complaining. He also liked to talk about himself, but it was about his accomplishments, not gloating about his exterior or his private life; he hated talking about his private life. And he didn't want to talk about private matters to those from small towns, because they couldn't keep a secret if their lives depended on it.

Myles had the fishing rod in his grasp while the end bobbed in the water. He was laying down at an angle in the autumn colored leaves and tall, yellow grass. Underneath his head was his coat that he brought along, thinking that it would be a cold day, but surprisingly, the weather was fantastic for a late fall in Virginia.

He stared at the clouds…thinking. Again, he was alone with his thoughts that often kept him company, but at least he wasn't situated in the dark, or in an overly stressful environment. As he watched the clouds pass, he thought about the people that were involved in his life; the people who cared about him, and the people who were toxic. He told himself that in order to get better, he had to get rid of the toxic individuals, especially the ones who accused him of faking his complex PTSD, so that he could gain sympathy. That was when he realized that those kinds of people were only there to relish in his money. They didn't care for his well being at all; they only wanted to party and drink expensive wine. Unfortunately, he held onto those venomous folks, because he did get lonely at times, and thought that being popular in a large crowd would fill that void; it obviously didn't. He was also aware that he was a little standoffish himself. He wasn't the friendliest man to be around, and even though he had a handful of close friends, they didn't invite him to a lot of things, because they thought he'd complain the entire time. They were partially right about that, but he still would have appreciated an invite. Maybe that's what he'll do upon his return. He'll work on himself, and also work on cutting out the people in his life who weren't supportive and doing him no favors. He shouldn't have extravagant parties with hundreds of people; instead, he should host potlucks with those who would take a bullet for him.

Then, his closest friends came into focus. Currently, he felt awful for leaving them like he did. He had to admit that even when he called Sue at work yesterday, he wasn't in his right mind, and was being selfish; but now, after some contemplation, he wished he could call them right now and let them know where he was. They were worried about him; they broke into his house for christ's sake! The least he could have done was leave a note on his door. But yet again, he knew them; they were practically his family. If he told them his current location, they would hunt him down, and take him back to Washington. Hopefully they weren't thinking that he didn't care about them, because that wasn't true. He thought he had a decent relationship with his friends at work and outside of work; he was closer to some than others. He wasn't close with Lucy anymore due to obvious reasons, but they would banter and bicker about the silliest things sometimes. Myles wasn't close with Dimitrius either, but they respected each other and had a good working and professional relationship. He enjoyed Tara's presence. She was fun, had an odd but captivating personality, and she relaxed him with strange, yet amusing stories that always ended on a cliffhanger. Regarding Bobby…well…Myles was still in love with the man, but those feelings were starting to fade every day. He knew he had no chance, and why should he let that hinder any future relationships with women and men alike. He was fine being considered a brother, and he enjoyed spending some Sunday nights with Bobby eating chips and dip while watching Sunday Night Football. As for Jack, he was team leader, but also treated him like a brother. Myles was already estranged from his real brothers as much as he used to be with Anne, so Jack was a good replacement. He knew he could go to Jack about anything without being judged, and to him, Jack was the most intelligent, empathetic, understanding, skilled and emotionally messed up agent in the world.

And as for Sue, as stated several times, their relationship was…weird to say the least. Although they got better over the years, and now considered themselves good friends and honorary siblings, they still bickered, and challenged each other at every chance they could get. However, he knew that he could tell her anything that was bothering him. For example, if he wasn't feeling well, he would notify her, and he could trust her to help him. He also told her the good things about his life too, and if something exciting happened, he would take the time to happily share it, and in turn, he'd do the same for her. They shared so many secrets with each other too, so they had to be close. He owed a lot to that lady and her dog, so if anyone hurt Sue in any way, shape or form, he would kill them…and Jack would most likely join him as well.

When it came to his immediate family, he told himself that he should find some time out of his busy schedule to visit lost relatives. He needed to reconnect with them like he did with Anne (minus breaking federal laws). He was only present around Christmas time when he'd visit his mother and father, and even then, he wasn't guaranteed that the remainder of his family would be there. He needed to make peace with his parents and tell them about his health, and spend more time with his nieces and nephews who were growing up so fast; the oldest had to be around sixteen years old, and he wanted to be there for them.

Of course, Myles being Myles, would never share these kinds of feelings; he always wanted to keep it to himself…

Suddenly, the rod in his hands pulled. Excited, Myles immediately sat up, and reeled in whatever was in the water. He eventually reeled in a fish, but it was very small; not even worth keeping. It didn't matter though. He was still a beginner. He didn't expect to catch a six footer while he was still wet behind the ears.

While taking the fish off the hook, Myles heard a honk in the distance. He looked to his right and noticed a trumpeter swan, washing itself on the lake. The trumpeter swan was very nice to look at with its pearly white feathers and solid black beak. Although the swan was quite far away, Myles could tell that the bird was huge. He once heard that swans were aggressive at certain times of the year, but he held no qualms with it unless the animal wanted to press its luck. Speaking of birds, Myles hadn't seen that many today, but maybe that was because migration was upon them.

Then, the swan caught sight of Myles, and it started swimming towards him. He thought it was cute until the swan flapped its wings, darted out of the water, and hurled itself at Myles with great speed. Before Myles could blink twice, the swan snatched the small fish out of his fingertips, and its giant wings knocked him into the shallow water. It ate the fish with zero remorse.

"What the - hey!" Recovering from the fall in the water, Myles chastised, "That was my fish! What gives you the right to steal my food!" Wet from head to foot, Myles then tried scaring the bird off by running towards it, but the large bird flew at him again, spread its wings and gave him a good SMACK at the back of his head. "OW!"

Myles immediately retreated to land. This bird was the devil! He looked over his shoulder and saw the swan honking at him as if it were innocent in this whole ordeal. "Don't you have any self restraint?" Myles asked, seething through his teeth.

The swan called at him again…taunting him.

Myles then stood up and faced the swan. He said, "Fine…if it's a war you want, it's a war you will get. You will not take away my hard earned patience and work. Yes, Myles Leland…the third…will win. I always win." He then grabbed his stuff and moved to another fishing area where there were possibly bigger fish and less crazy animals.

Chapter 13 is next…