S6: Chapter 04: Text for Fun

“You’re going to get a hand cramp if you don’t put that thing down soon,” Ryan growled watching his sister frantically typing away on her cell phone. Stefanie had been at it all morning, texting friends, video messaging and blogging about her big day coming soon. She had to tell everyone about her brother buying her a car and then show them her day out searching for the perfect ride. She’d already promised half the senior class that she’d drive them to and from school. After Ryan made it a point to tell her that she was going to have to deal with the gas all on her own, she cut back a little.

“I’m almost done,” she replied half listening to him as she completed another text to her best friend Alexis. Since moving Ryan had witnessed a remarkable change in her behavior. She was happier than she’d been in a long time. Her behavior improved dramatically at the new school and she was making friends. She was even on the honor roll the entire first term.

“So is Brandy coming over,” she asked wiggling her brows at her brother and placing the phone on the counter finally. “Not to be gross or anything but I’d really like to know in advance so I can spend the night at Alex’s place. I’d like to avoid a repeat of ‘yes, yes, harder Ryan like that,’ all night while I’m trying to sleep.” She reenacted for him while rolling her eyes and making barf motions with her finger down her throat.

“Stef…”

“What? I mean I like her and all but I don’t need to know EVERYTHING about her. But it’s good she’s religious,” Stefanie smirked and tapped the screen on her phone. “It’s just others might think using God’s name so much is blasphemous.”

“Right. So who’s Kel?” Ryan asked turning the tables on his baby sister and watching her face get red with embarrassment. “I mean this guy seems to be high on the phone bill every month. Endless texting, endless phone calls, all the way up until 3am sometimes. Are you sure it’s me keeping you up?”

“Ryan! You’re reading the phone bills?”

“Well I pay them of course I read them. I’d like to know why I’m being charged $30 service fees for after hour minutes being used. And you still haven’t answered my question.”

“He’s just a friend.”

“Uh huh. Is he the type of friend I need to put the fear of God in with my boot and gun?”

“It’s not like that! Well…not really.”

“‘Not really’? Stef what does that mean?” she lowered her eyes and he continued questioning her growing more concerned by her silence. “Stef? So it was you that took a few of the condoms out of my bedside table? Stef?”

“Yes!” she nearly shouted and dropped her head onto the countertop. “Are you mad at me?”

Ryan sighed and took a step back and looked at her. In a way he wasn’t surprised to find that she was sexually active. After everything she’d been through he expected it to be an issue for her later. But he was hoping she’d at least wait until she was out of his house before exploring it. “No Pin Cushion, of course I’m not mad. I like that you’re protecting yourself but…I was kind of hoping that…”

“I would wait until I was 30?” she giggled and chewed on her lower lip as she watched him shake his head enthusiastically. “Well I’m sorry to disappoint you Ryguy. But I’m 17, that’s technically an adult.”

“You’re not an adult yet Stefanie; not until you’re out of my house and paying your own bills. And I’m not disappointed. But now I’m gonna go and set a doctor’s appointment for you. If you’re sexually active I’m getting that thing sewn up!”

“RYAN!”

He laughed at the scared expression on her face and shook his head to calm her panic. “I’m kidding Stef. But you do need birth control. No way can I handle two of you!”

Dustin sat fidgeting with the envelope in his pocket as he clicked through the endless emails he’d received from the agents setup at the precinct. They were to give hourly reports on any suspicious call with details of the conversation, time they called, specifics discussed if any and state of mind of the caller. If he didn’t know any better he’d think the agents sent to handle the call center weren’t very clear on what constituted “suspicious call”. Many of the emails he ended up discarded as none pertained to the specifics of the case or seemed unusual enough to give a second glance. “Anything new?” Brett asked as he began sorting through the messages left on the bulletin.

“Same old. Forensics came back with no prints or fibers or other trace evidence on any of the notes. They are all written on the same type of paper that comes standard at any office supply store; nothing special there. One thing they did find was that the handwriting on the note left on Patricia’s body and victim #1 were written by the same person who we believe is the killer. The other notes were done by the victims at some point during their torture. I’m thinking it’s about the time he’s preparing their final act,” Victor answered and continued reading over the case notes.

“Hey, sorry I’m late. I got sidetracked by a little conversation with Stefanie.”

“Oh yeah? How’s she doing?” Brett asked without glancing in Ryan’s direction.

“She’s good. She’s happy. We had ‘the talk’ sorta. She’s dating some kid named Kel.” He sighed and dropped onto the sofa with a pack of cookies and a soda in hand. “Don’t even get me started on that. I haven’t even met him and I dislike him already.”

“That bad?”

“To my phone bill, yes. But he seems to make her happy and that’s really all I care about. Wait until you get there with Autumn, Brett. I can see that going real well. ‘Daddy this is Tommy and we’re having a baby’.”

“Never gonna happen. Any guy that even THINKS of sticking his dick anywhere near my little girl is getting an up close and personal one-on-one with the barrel of my gun. Autumn will be a virgin until she’s at least 45 years old and married.”

“Yeah right! With Vette’s genes? She’s a guaranteed hottie. She’ll be knocking them off with a stick!” Dustin laughed at the soured expression on Brett’s face.

“More like a baseball bat; metal. In fact I think I’m teaching her how to shoot when she’s five. God, that’s a scary thought. I actually think I can feel the grey hair starting on my head.” He frowned more and looked at his hair in the reflection of the gun case. “Can we change the subject now?”

“Sure thing BK,” Ryan laughed and chomped down on a cookie. “Where’s Yve anyway?”

“She’s running late too. My Mom came over to take the kids but she hadn’t pumped any bottles for them. So she’s feeding the twins and making sure they have enough milk for the day. Knowing my Mom we won’t get them back until midnight at best. Sometimes I think we were just surrogates for her. They’re her grandkids but you’d never know it by the way she treats them like her own.”

“You don’t even know the half of it,” Yvette groaned as she slammed the door behind her. “I just spent an hour listening to her lecture me about how I wash their clothes, bathe them in their tub, steam clean the bottles and sterilize the nipples. ‘No dear, you don’t want to use too much soap on the sponge, in fact you should just boil them. Here, back away let me do it’. I told her she was welcomed to stay for the weekend but I’m already regretting that. And you’d think our babies would be on my side? Oh no! Austin sat there laughing at Mommy’s frustration. I think he was enjoying it!”

Dropping her bags into her locker, she removed her badge and locked it in the top drawer before joining Brett beside the bulletin board. “So what’d I miss?”

“Just those two teasing your husband about Autumn’s love life.”

“Love life? She doesn’t even have teeth yet and she’s already started dating?”

“Nope. And that was the point Brett was making. Trust me though I know how it is. Aisha’s right at dating age now and I’m already panicked I’m gonna end up behind bars over the first boy she walks in my front door.”

Yvette laughed and glanced over at Dustin tucked behind his monitor. He hadn’t spoken since she walked into the room. Instead his eyes seemed fixated on something on his computer screen. Unblinking he stared and clicked through page after page of searches; he was looking for something. And while the rest of the team seemed preoccupied he took the opportunity to search for anything related to the Kkangpae in the U.S. His search warranted no results but he didn’t give up. Just because no one had reported the Korean Mafia being in the country, didn’t mean they weren’t there.

A lot of the members operated below the radar. And with their skills reflecting that of even the most fabled of Ninjas, he was assured that any business they had in the country would never catch the attention of local authorities. “Dustin?” Yvette called as she strolled towards him and he immediately turned to look at her, closing out his search as he did. 

“Yeah?”

“You’re just so quiet. Just wanted to make sure everything was ok with you, Nerd. How’s Mica and the family?”

“Oh they’re great yeah. Mica just hired a new tech to work weekends and ER hours. Says she needs a lot of training still but is finally getting the hang of being flexible within the office. And Tao is Tao,” he grinned. “I used to think his hormones were at their peak as a 14 year old just learning about that stuff but just here recently he’s about as horny as 8 teenagers at a Playboy party. Grandma caught him with his hands in his pants the other day and called yelling at me in Korean about being a bad influence or something. Like I’d ever let someone catch me doing that! I told him to save that stuff for his girlfriend when I talked to him yesterday.”

“From what you’re saying Dusty, he’d probably impregnate whoever he’s dating.”

“Oh no, Uncle Dustin advocates safe sex!”

Yvette’s phone rang and she walked towards her cell to answer. Taking a seat on the couch, she strummed her fingers over the arm as she listened to the report on the other end. “And we’re sure it was Landry?” Hearing that name everyone turned their attention to her side of the room and listened in. “Right. Phoenix? But what…? Ok I see. And we’re bringing him in for questioning when? No tomorrow’s good. I’ll have my team notified, we’ll be waiting. Thank you for your work on this Baker I owe you!” 

“They find Suicide?” Victor asked the moment the phone hung up.

“No, they found someone who worked with him since he disappeared from us that night. They believe he may be heading to Phoenix on some type of business and they want to try and intercept him. Supposedly this guy knows about a deal he’s making in Arizona concerning a cache of weapons. The Feds picked him up as he crossed the border back from Mexico with a trunk load of coke and he’s trying to make a deal. He saw Landry’s wanted poster in their office and believes he has a bargaining chip out of hefty Federal time.”

“How can we trust his information? He could say anything just to get out of those charges!”

“Well he’ll be here tomorrow. The Nevada boys are flying him up so we can have first crack at him.” She sighed and cracked her knuckles as she thought about his hands on her infant baby. Watching him use her as a meat shield and then jump out of that window made her heart jump out of her chest. The indescribable moment of having her daughter in her arms again was felt by everyone there that night.

And although Brett wanted to sue the hospital for negligence and the fact that their newborn daughter could have been killed because of their lax security checks, Yvette calmed him down and made him realize what was most important. They’d gotten Autumn back alive and unharmed. The manhunt for her ex partner Chris “Suicide” Landry started immediately across three agencies. The FBI, CIA and DEA were on the hunt for this ex-government operative and international criminal and hopefully from the sound of the phone call, they were just one step away.

Continue ---->