The captain’s sudden leave freed Mia from feigning detective work, which should’ve left her time to enjoy an extra hour or two at the library. It would’ve, had she not stumbled on a family bombshell. Now she sat, fidgeting her sister’s purse, trying to figure out the best way to break her mother’s heart.

She hadn’t even opened her mouth before her mother started pouting at her. “Don’t take it too hard.”

“What?”

Her mother stroked her loose bangs, looking back through the gaps in the shelves to where Captain Galhardo left the building. “You were looking forward to spending more time with him, weren’t you?”

“Mom, I told you—”

“You don’t have to be strong for me. I know exactly how you feel. We don’t need men to tell us we’re beautiful.” said the woman who needed a man less than half her age to tell her she’s beautiful. “Besides, I think he might be… you know. I was checking on him, worried he might’ve left you behind to get a look at me, but barely looked my way.” She leaned closer. “And that’s when I noticed he wore his ear piece on the right ear.”

“I-I don’t think that’s how—I think that only applies to…” Mia couldn’t let this conversation continue. “There’s something I wanted to ask you.”

“How I knew about Rafi? Once you’ve worked with enough gays and lesbians, you get a sense for these kinds of things.” She beamed with enough pride for the month of June.

“No, not that. When we were looking through files, I saw someone who, um, looked really familiar to me.” Mia pretended to dig around in her purse as if she wasn’t already holding her sketch in hand. As much as she wanted to change topics, this felt cruel. Did her mother need to know? Was Mia’s search for answers a selfish one? She slid the paper onto the table before she lost any more of her nerve.

“What’s this?” Her mother’s smile flattened. She stopped herself before saying something else, instead taking the sketch in both hands. Her mouth twitched into a frown. “Why would you show me this?”

A pang of guilt hit Mia. She looked away. “In the files, he had red hair. And he was listed as Tom Voltaire. I found out the IF took him into custody after he’d gotten a ticket eleven years ago. I don’t really know what this all means, but I was wondering if you think this could be—Mom?”

Her mother crumpled the paper in one fist, then dropped it onto the table. She turned to Mia with watery eyes. “Yes, honey?”

“I’m sorry, I just—I don’t know, Kyle keeps talking about the importance of having closure, and I guess I thought we should know why Dad left.”

“I knew he was a star ranger.”

It took Mia a few moments to register what she said. “You knew? You never brought it up…”

“I didn’t want you to get mad at your sister, but it’s too late for that now.” Her mother picked the paper back up and wiped her tears on Mia’s painstaking work.

“What does Kaylee have to do with this?”

“She’s the one who answered the phone when he called from jail. She was never his biggest fan, so she hung up on him, just like that. I didn’t even know until we had our fight. And then she left. Just like that.”

Mia was too stunned to speak.

“After I was already reeling from finding out I didn’t know my husband’s name, of finding out that my own daughter took away my chance to get answers, she abandoned me. Who could I believe in anymore? All those years that Tim, Tom—whatever his name is—told me I was destined to be a star, what were they for? Maternity modelling? Some commercial gigs?”

She moved an innocent book out of the path of her mother’s tears. This was Mia’s mistake; no need for collateral damage.

“I gave the best years of my life to that man, five kids, and I don’t know if he meant a word he said. Because of her. Then she didn’t even want to come back to me. Goodness knows I waited so long. I miss my baby!”

“Do you mean Kaylee or…?”

Mia’s mother buried her face into her chest without an answer. As Mia rubbed her back, she watched a guy exit from behind the shelves, take one look at them, and leave. Something callous in her wanted to do the same.

“It’s so hard.” Her mother nuzzled her shoulder. “The money’s a huge help, but,” she sniffled, “with you here right now, I just want to hold on and never let go.” Her fingers dug into Mia’s arms. “Do you miss me?”

“Yeah.” Mia lied.

“You’re such a sweetie.” Her mother rose up. “Ugh, look at me. I can’t be seen like this. Can you watch Mommy’s stuff while she washes her face?” She took off her phone and placed it in Mia’s hands. “My agent can be a little clingy. If she calls, tell her I’m busy.”

“Sure.” Mia tried not to flinch too much when her mother planted a kiss on her cheek. Her understanding of her family changed so much so fast, and yet the most jarring part was how familiar it all felt. Her mother cried about the same things dozens of times before: her sister leaving, her father’s sincerity. The context made little difference.

In times like this, she wanted to run away. What right did she have? She’d caused the problem this time, and regardless, she needed to be strong for her mother.

She didn’t notice her fingers digging into the phone until the ringtone went off. In a rush to stop the noise, she answered the phone before realizing she had answered the phone.

“Hello?” someone’s voice came through.

“Delilah’s not available right now. Please leave a message.”

“Mia??”

Mia doubted the agent knew her name or her voice. The other voice did sound familiar to her, though. “...Aaron?”

“Cool, cool, cool. I’m so glad it’s you. I need you to pick me up. Don’t tell Mom.”

“What do you mean you need me to pick you up? Where are you?”

“Jail.”

She held herself back from saying something she’d regret over a police line. “Mom can not deal with this right now.”

“Exaaactly. That’s why you can’t tell.”

“I’ll be there.” She hung up, then erased the call history from her mother’s phone.

Mia could not in good conscience leave her mother behind right away, so while she waited for her return, she opened up her own phone to bypass a new text notification from Roxie on the way to Russell’s number.

‘Why is Aaron in jail.’

‘WHAT?’ was his only response.

Pressure cooked her brain. ‘Where are the rest.’

‘With me. We’re on our way to the station.’

The tension lessened. ‘Good.’

A shadow fell over her, cast by none other than her mother. All tears had been wiped away, and red eyes were white again. “Hiii Mia~ Did anyone call?”

Mia clutched her phone to her chest. “No.”

“Who are you texting?” She leaned further.

“Umm, the captain, I mean, Rafael.” The lie didn’t come out the smoothest. Thankfully few of Mia’s words ever did.

“Ohhh, Rafi again, huh?”

“Yeah, he needs me for some work stuff.”

Her mother blew a puff of air, her annoyance loud and clear. “So now he wants you around.”

“Sorry. It’s important.” Mia stood up. “I hope you enjoy your book.”

“Thank you, sweetie. I’ll see if I can get through some of it at home. Maybe the boys’ll be there.”

“A-Are you sure you’ll be able to concentrate with them around?” She needed to get home first, just in case she had to erase evidence of Aaron’s imprisonment. “Knowing them, they haven’t even started dinner yet. It’ll be a huge commotion.”

“True, true. I’ll give them another hour or so.” Her mother absentmindedly thumped the book against the table, then smiled. “You’re always looking out for me. Don’t let that Rafi steal your youth away from you, okay? One of us has to enjoy it.”

It wouldn’t be Mia.

She set out to wade through the maze of sidewalks, with her phone guiding each step she took. It’d have to guide her back home too, because her head was too full for remembering, full enough to feel completely empty. That didn’t make sense at all, but she lacked the energy to question it. She needed a break from answers.

Part of her worried that, in her state, she wouldn’t be able to find the police station if it hit her in the face. Luckily, she found it when it hit her in the face.

She lifted her sunglasses to find a guy in a brown jumpsuit and silver cape pulling the door back, the same guy she’d spent most of the day with. “My apologies, ma’am.”

“Captain?”

“Heeey, Mia! Come to bail us out?” Emil appeared from behind a group of passing pedestrians, with Leon in tow.

Mia caught enough of the conversation to keep up. Captain Galhardo bailed them out from jail, and she ruined his hopes of keeping it a secret. Or maybe the group chat did it first. She didn’t know why they got arrested, and frankly, she had bigger things to worry about. When Leon asked what those things were, she gave some vague answer and ducked inside before he could get in more follow up questions.

The lady at the front counter was in conversation with a policewoman around Mia’s mother’s age. Neither noticed her when she approached, and she didn’t want to interrupt, so she waited patiently.

“Hey!” Just when she started to worry that the counter’s height hid her from view, the cop called out to her. “You need something?”

“I’m looking for Aaron Wattson?”

Mia tried not to notice the way the receptionist stared down at her like dirt. She typed something on her laptop, then turned to the policewoman. “You’ll need to speak with Officer Peshko.”

“What’s he look like? How old is he?” The cop fired off questions too fast for Mia to answer. “Is he that teenager?”

“Yes.” Mia blurted. “Maybe? Does he have freckles and—?”

“Red hair? Yeah. The little wallet thief.”

“The what?”

“You don’t need to go back to the office.” She took her radio from her belt. “I’ll have Peshko bring him over.”

A few minutes later, a towering man opened up a cell down the hall to let Aaron out. Aaron strutted over, having the nerve to look carefree. Mostly. He avoided making eye contact with Mia.

Only when the man walked him up to the front did he ‘just happen to notice’ her. “Hey, Mia. Thanks.”

Mia looked to the tall cop. “How much is bail?”

“You don’t have to pay anything at all, miss. ” He pointed to the glass door. “The guy with the visor dropped all charges, so consider this a warning.”

Mia looked outside where Leon stood wearing his visor, then turned back to her brother. “You stole from my coworker?”

“Your coworker? We’re collab partners!”

“Let’s go.” With an awkward thanks to the cops, she shuffled out of the station.

Daylight was dead by this point, making it hard to see who’s who. It took her a moment to find that Leon had moved over to a street light. His little brother clung to his arm, even though Mia could’ve sworn he wasn’t around a few minutes ago.

“I am so, so sorry about my brother. Aaron. Apologize.”

“Ahh, don’t worry about it, Mia.” Leon smiled. “We already made up. Besides, it’s not even the first time a teenager tried to steal my identity!”

“Looks like the gang’s all here.” Emil stepped into the light. The captain followed behind him like a shadow. “Nice work, Ange. Now I can see what you told ‘em.” Emil opened his phone. “‘Sorry about this. Can you guys pick me up? I’m hiding in a recycling bin on Prosperity Street, and my ank–’ What do the cops have to do with this??”

“Lieutenant?”

He shielded the phone from the captain. “Sorry, bro. Wrong number. It sure left me with a lot of questions, though.” His eyes flickered toward Angelo. Leon’s stare lasted far longer, and Mia couldn’t help but notice the guilt written on Angelo’s face. “Anyway!” Emil plastered on a smile. “I see we have some extras tagging along.” He gave a wink to Mia. “Wanna introduce us to ‘em?”

“Uh, these are my—”

“We have successfully collected all four Wattson brothers!” Roxie’s voice made Mia jump. Despite herself, she felt relief at seeing her smile. …Were Roxie’s eyes wetter than usual?

“Woah, you have that many?” Leon blinked. “Oh, and you guys finally found your little bro… ther?”

Mia turned around to see the triplets all giving him signals to shut up. They found out firsthand that Leon Summers could not take a hint. “What does he mean? Where was Elliot?” A more pressing question struck her as she looked around the sidewalk. “Where is Elliot??”

“He was right here just a second ago!” Russell gestured to the empty space between him and Roxie.

“Aaron, did you see where he went?” asked Kyle.

“Don’t ask me.” Aaron shrugged. “I just got here.”

Roxie leaned into Mia’s periphery. “He’s taking refuge behind Aiden.”

Mia followed her pointer finger to a silhouette lumbering a little farther behind the group. The Aiden-sized silhouette lifted an arm to reveal a smaller, Elliot-sized one cowering behind him.

“Elliot…” she groaned. “Thank you, Roxie.”

“By the way, did you get my text?”

“Sorry, I wasn’t doing anything interesting. Just looking through records.” She needed to talk to her brothers. Texts could wait.

“No, I meant–”

Footsteps approached from behind them. “Ranger Allen, where is Ranger Kim?”

Captain Galhardo’s interruption gave Mia all the time she needed to corral her brothers away from the prying ears of her shipmates. She waved them down to the next street lamp—a flickering one—where she finally got a good look at them all.

“Look. If I had it my way, I wouldn’t ask, but I need to make sure this all gets sorted out before Mom gets home. What happened with Elliot and Aaron?”