Cam woke up the next morning alone in Juan’s guest bedroom. He rolled toward the clock and saw that he had slept past ten. He scrambled out of bed and rushed to put his clothes on wondering why they let him sleep so late. Cam burst through the door into the hallway and found Juan and Kristy sitting at Juan’s breakfast bar. They each had a cup of coffee and a plate in front of them.

“Good morning!” Juan and Kristy said in unison when they saw Cam. Kristy took her plate to the sink and filled another mug with coffee.

“Morning,” Cam’s dry voice cracked as he sat on the stool Kristy had left empty. “Why’d you let me sleep so long?”

“You needed it.” Kristy shrugged, “Juan said we didn’t get here until almost midnight.”

“You were out cold when we got here.”

“I must have been. I don’t even remember how I got in the house.” She set the coffee cup in front of Cam.

“I carried you.” He returned her smile and lifted the mug to his mouth. An awkward moment hung in the air as they looked at each other.

“This is delicious. Thanks for cooking.” Juan made an effort to break the silence. He shoveled another forkful of pancake into his mouth.

“Would you like some?” Kristy asked Cam from across the counter. She was already mixing more pancake batter.

“I’d love some. Thanks.”

A few minutes later Kristy set a plate full of hot pancakes and a cup of warm syrup in front of Cam. They looked like a picture perfect stack of pancakes right out of an IHOP commercial and he couldn’t wait to dig in.

“Well,” Kristy said when Cam started eating, “I feel gross. I’m in need of a shower. I’ll be back in a few.” She grabbed some things out of her bag next to the couch and made her way to the bathroom, leaving the boys to chat without her.

“What was that about?” Juan asked Cam when Kristy was out of the room.

“What are you talking about?”

“You just gave her the googly eye.” Juan shoved the last bite into his mouth.

Cam’s mouth was full when he laughed. He put a napkin to his mouth. “I did not googly eye her! That was my thank you smile. She just made me pancakes. I was expressing my gratitude.”

“Don’t give me that, man. You like her.” Juan pushed his empty plate a few inches away.

“What?” Cam looked shocked. “No. It’s just… She’s Alex’s sister. I have to help her out.”

“Uh huh. And you’re not enjoying it one bit.”

Cam chuckled and looked down at his plate. “I didn’t say that.” He stabbed the last bite of pancake with his fork and brought it to his mouth. “But it’s not what you think. I don’t like her like that.”

“Whatever you say man,” Juan shook his head and got up to get more coffee. “So, fill me in.”

Cam filled Juan in on what happened and told him they had seen and heard everything on the flash drive. He told him how upset Kristy had been and they talked about what to do next. Cam also asked Juan to see what he could find out about General Thatcher.

Juan had bought them a set of burner phones so they could communicate without being traced. Cam saved Kristy and Juan’s phone numbers into his phone. He set up Kristy’s phone with his number along with Juan’s, Gram’s, and Ariana’s. He knew she would want Jordan’s phone number too, but a strange feeling came over him when he thought about it. Something was telling him not to add Jordan’s number. Cam knew there was no good reason not to. He shook the feeling off and decided he should be happy that Kristy has one more person to lean on. Cam pushed the feeling aside and added Jordan’s number to Kristy’s new phone. He also took a picture of Alex off Kristy’s laptop and set it as her new phone background.

Just as he was finishing up with Kristy’s phone, she emerged from the bathroom dressed in fresh clothes.

“Feel better?” Cam asked her.

“So much better.” She smiled at them both.

“Good,” said Cam, “because we are about to learn a little more about the general.” Cam joined Juan at the table in front of Juan’s laptop. Kristy came closer and stood behind Cam’s chair. On the screen was a picture of a clean-cut military man with his head held high. One would never guess from looking at the picture what kind of evil lived inside of him.

“General O. Thatcher,” Juan was ready to show Cam and Kristy what he found out about the general. “He’s been in the Army his whole life. He enlisted right after high school and made a career of it. He’s highly decorated. He led troops into Iraq and Afghanistan; he killed some of the most sought after terrorists while he was there. He even busted a bunch of guys for smuggling drugs and weapons out of other countries. On paper this guy is a hero.”

“Perfect.” Cam muttered in frustration. “Okay, so who’s this guy’s boss? We can go to him.”

“With what, Cam? I hate to say it, but you have nothing. Nothing the military will think is serious, anyway.”

“How can you say that? You saw and heard the same thing we did.”

“Yes,” Juan stood up and headed back to kitchen to fill his mug one more time. “And it’s wildly disturbing, but it’s not definitive evidence of any wrongdoing. You’re talking about going to a guy who orders air strikes over entire towns and reporting a guy for molesting a couple Afghan girls? He’s not going to care.”

“But there was that guy he said he made a deal with. He said he was supposed to get paid. And what about the other one? That guy all but told Alex to watch his back or else.” Cam said angrily.

“That’s what we heard.” Juan argued with him. “To anyone else he just told him to be careful. They’re in a dangerous place; it’s not like something couldn’t have happened to him there.”

“Shit.” Cam sat down and hung his head. After a few minutes of frustrated silence he asked, “Juan, how did they find us?”

“They’re military. They’ve got resources we’ve never even heard of. All they would have to do is run your license plate to figure out who you are, and then it’s just a matter of a simple background check to see that you own property. It’s not hard.”

“If that’s what they did, then they’ll find us here too. It won’t be hard to figure out who Kristy and I would turn to for help. We can’t stay here long. Did you trace Kristy’s old phone?”

“Yeah. Assuming they found it, it traveled about twelve miles west down the highway before I lost the signal. I’ll keep tracking it in case the signal comes back. Where are you going to go? You can’t run forever.”

“I don’t know. I don’t have a plan. I’m open to suggestions.” Cam looked to Kristy and Juan for ideas.

“You can’t just hide out,” Juan pointed out. “It won’t be enough. You need to get ahead of them.”

“How? I was hoping they would pick up one of our phones and that would give us their location.”

“It still might. We’ll see. Let’s all put our heads together and see if we can come with some kind of plan.”

“Okay,” nodded Cam. “We need a new car. They know my truck.”

“My cousin owns a used car lot. Let me call him.” Juan walked away and dialed his cousin’s phone number.

Cam got up from his seat and wandered away from where Kristy was standing and paced in Juan’s living room. Not knowing what to do scared Cam, especially when he was responsible for other peoples’ lives. Kristy watched him. She knew he tried to hide what he was feeling, but the fear and frustration were all over his face. She had always thought he acted too much like he didn’t care about anything at all, and now she missed that side of him. She wanted to do something for him. She wanted to see him as relaxed and carefree as he was the night they had been out with Alex. She resolved to ask Juan what he thought she could do for Cam. In the meantime, Kristy had another task in mind.

“Can I use your truck? I’d like to go see Gram.” Kristy asked Cam. “It’s been days since I’ve talked to her. She’s probably worried.”

“Let me take you.” Cam grabbed his keys.

“You don’t have to. You’ve taken me everywhere. It’s okay.” Kristy held out her hand for the keys.

Juan interrupted them. “Hey, my cousin said you can leave your truck there for a few days and he’ll loan you a car.”

“Awesome, man. Thanks.” Cam looked slightly relieved. “When can we go?”

“Anytime.” Juan answered.

Cam turned back to Kristy “I’d really feel better if I could go with you. And on the way back we can switch out the truck.” Cam insisted.

“Alright. Come on.” Kristy waved as she walked toward the door.

Juan looked at Cam and shook his head. “You got it bad.”

“Piss off.” Cam mumbled under his breath as he walked past Juan and out the door.

* * *

Claire was sitting in her chair reading when the doorbell rang. She set her book down and made her way to the door. When she opened the door and saw Kristy and Cam, relief washed over her like a wave.

“Oh, Kristy,” They wrapped their arms around each other and hugged long enough to make up for all the days since they had last seen each other.

“Hey, Gram,” Kristy said when they let go. “We brought you these.” She held out a bouquet of brightly colored daises.

“Thank you! Who’s this handsome man?” Claire gestured toward Cam.

“You remember Alex’s friend, Cam, from school?”

“Oh yes,” Claire held out her hand. “You were at the funeral. So nice to see you again.”

“Yes, ma’am. It’s good to see you too.” He shook her hand gently.

“Where have you been?” Claire asked Kristy as they headed into the kitchen to find a vase for the flowers. “I called you a few times. I was beginning to worry.”

“I… lost my phone.” She sat down at the table next to Cam where there was a vase full of carnations. “Where did you get these?” Kristy pulled the vase close to her and smelled them. Carnations always reminded her of Alex. They were his favorite.

“You know what, I got home yesterday and they were just sitting on my doorstep.” Claire explained about the carnations. “No note or anything. I don’t know who left them, but I’m sure glad they did. These always remind me of Alex.” Gram set the vase of daises next to the carnations. “And now these remind me of you.” She smiled and sat down with them. “So, what have you kids been up to? Can I get you anything?”

Cam and Kristy both shook their heads. “No, thank you.” They said in unison.

“I’ve been busy at work this week.” Kristy started. “I wanted to come see you since I hadn’t called lately. How’s everything?”

“Oh, fine. I played cards with some ladies from church day before yesterday, and I’m going to play bingo this afternoon.”

“Did you win?”

“No.” Claire scoffed jokingly. “But I’m going to today.”

Kristy giggled. “That’s the spirit.”

“Cam, what have you been up to?” Claire shifted her attention.

“Oh, uh, just working. The daily grind. I went hunting a few days ago up at my cabin.”

“That sounds wonderful. You should take Kristy sometime. When she was little she loved to go camping with her granddad.” She reminisced.

A smile spread across Cam’s face and he looked at Kristy. “I’d like that.”

Kristy held his gaze for a few seconds before she replied, “Me too.”

“That will be fun.” Claire got up to fill her glass with water. She got two bottles of water out of her refrigerator and set them in front of Cam and Kristy. “Are you hungry? I’m going to make myself something for lunch before Sue picks me up.”

“Yeah, I’m a little hungry. Let me help you.” Kristy got up and helped Claire make a sandwich for each of them. They opened a bag of potato chips to eat with their sandwiches and sat around the table chatting about work and friends. They laughed more in an hour than Cam and Kristy had in the last week. Kristy felt so relaxed and at home that she almost forgot about bugs and conspiracies and being in any danger.

Almost.

Sooner than they’d planned, Claire’s friend arrived to pick her up and they all left the house. Cam started the truck and Kristy waved goodbye to Claire as they drove away. When they left, Kristy had hugged Claire a little longer than usual. She wasn’t sure when she would be able to visit again. Even Cam hugged Claire goodbye. Claire was off to play bingo blissfully unaware of what her granddaughter was facing, and that’s the way Kristy wanted to keep it.