Zac woke up to a soft snoring in his ear. He had an eerie feeling of ‘da ja vu’, from so many years of sleeping in a trundle bed only inches from his brother. Zac used to complain endlessly about the sleeping arrangement, since Taylor moved a lot in his sleep. Taylor was always flinging arms and legs out of his own space and into Zac’s. Zac had often been sharply awakened by a accidental smack to the face or a kick to the leg, the most famous being the black eye he’d gotten from an accidental poke in the eye. As he turned over and opened his eyes, it was Mackie that he faced. Zac lay in bed and really took a long look at his little brother. It was hard to catch Mackie in a non-moving state. Everyone said, Mackie was the most like him, but he couldn’t see it. Mackie looked more like Tay, to him, with his delicate features. Except that Mackie had brown eyes, like his own and not blue like his brothers. Mackie suddenly flipped over and his small flailing elbow caught Zac in the nose. Zac rubbed his nose absently. Mackie moved just like Tay, too!

Squelching a large yawn, Zac got out of bed and wandered into Taylor’s room. He could see a strip of light under the closet door and he walked over and opened the door to find Ike still in his pajamas sitting among the piles of papers and reading.

"Morning," Ike said looking up.

"How long you been up?" Zac asked.

Ike rubbed his eyes. "Most of the night. I thought I’d better read through this stuff again. I thought maybe I’d find something we missed before."

"Did you?" Zac asked offering his hand to help his brother to his feet.

"Nothing," Ike admitted. "Except a nasty interview by Ravi. Man, ‘our’ success went to his head really fast."

"One of these days, someone should tell him that he was only a back-up," Zac said wryly.

"I know, you’d think his name was Hanson from the way he talks. ‘Our songs’ ‘Our performance’ ‘Our tour’. Makes you wonder where he was when we were recording or writing?"

"Same place he is now," Zac said grinning. "Out of the picture!"

"I’m going to take a shower and try to wake up," Ike said as he watched Zac walk over to the wall where they had been writing down their clues. 

Zac had added his own category down in one corner. He hadn’t labeled it. He just wrote down the words, and Ike knew what he meant. He had already written down ‘scared’ and ‘help me’. This morning he added the word ‘hurt’. 

Ike sucked in his breath at the addition but he didn’t make comment on it. He and Zac just locked eyes, and they knew they had to find another clue. One that would really help, and fast.

* * * *

Taylor woke up with a vague ringing in his ears. Although his eyes were taped shut he could still see flashes of light and spectrum of strange colors and shapes. He suspected that he was losing consciousness for short, maybe long periods of time. It was hard to tell, because he was so bone tired. He twisted himself around in order to get under the pipe and to catch the drops of water. There was an awful smell in the room. Taylor had listened to a catfight the day before somewhere outside of where he was being kept. Maybe one of the cats had been killed, and the warm L.A. temperatures were making it stink. 

He listened to the traffic patterns for a while and then leaned back against the wall. Taylor wasn’t moving as much and wasn’t attempting to try. He hurt. Plain and simple. His legs were about half numb and his shoulder was throbbing when he could feel it all. He’d given up on trying to flex his fingers. His hands were heavily taped and he could feel raw spots on his wrists where he’d pulled and tugged and banged the handcuffs against the pipes. The same was true of his ankles. He’d spent a lot of time fighting the heavy metal chains and his ankles were scraped and raw. Taylor’s head fell forward as he drifted off in a semi-sleep state.

* * * *

Ike officiated over the morning study period for his younger brothers and sisters. His Mom and Dad were locked in the office with Agent Curtis and voices were being raised. He didn’t know what was going on, but he knew he and Zac had no hope of slipping out of the house until the lessons were complete. His Dad had ordered him to take over the chore of overseeing just before he’d gone into the office and his voice meant business.

After they finished the lessons, Ike made a quick lunch of sandwiches and soup and then he left his siblings to find out what was going on in the office. Just as he came down the hallway, Agent Curtis slammed out of the office and out the front door without a backward glance.

"Dad what’s going on?" 

Walker looked up at the interruption from his oldest son. "After some discussion we’ve decided that Agent Curtis is going to be replaced. For now, Agents Reiger, Newman and Marshall will stay here. A Captain John Willis will be here in a little while to take over the case."

"Good, he wasn’t doing much of a job anyway," Ike exclaimed. "Dad, is it okay if Zac and I go out for a little while. The lessons are all done and the kids are finishing lunch right now."

"Okay, but don’t be gone long and make sure you have your cell phone with you," Walker responded. "Thanks, son."

Ike grabbed the keys to the van and signaled his brother to follow him. 

Zac didn’t ask any questions he just waited for Ike to fill him in. 

"They’re replacing Agent Curtis with another man in charge. This guys name is Agent Willis."

"Think he’ll be any better?"

"He can’t be any worst," Ike predicted grimly. 

Ike drove onto the expressway that would take him toward Bel Air. He stayed on the expressway for half a dozen exits before he pulled off into an affluent part of town. But, he drove past the opulent housing development and drove into a complex of townhouses and condominiums. 

Zac followed Ike as he knocked on his girlfriend’s door. Jenny answered on the third knock.

"Ike," Jenny hugged Ike and then pulled Zac into her hug also. "Have you heard anything yet?"

"No," Ike answered. "Jenny, you said Shawn would be willing to help us if we needed it. We need it."

"Follow me to Whiz Kid’s Lair," Jenny said pulling them into the townhouse. She led them upstairs and pounded on a bedroom door and then finally just opened the door and turned on the light.

"Shawn! Get up!" Jenny ordered her older brother. "We need your help!"

"What? Get out!" a groggy and rumpled young man in his early twenties rolled over in his bed. 

"Shawn get up!" Jenny ordered unperturbed by her older brothers’ rude behavior.

Shawn opened his eyes and glared at his sister and then he rolled to his feet. "You’re the guy whose brother got snatched. Right?"

"Right," Ike answered. "I need an address. The only leads we have are for a mother and sister of a guy that used to work for us."

"They the ones that kidnapped him?" Shawn asked turning on the power strip to his computer.

"We don’t know. They might not have anything to do with it at all but it’s all we have. We had an address, but when we went there the place was condemned and behind a fence. It’s going to be torn down and a drug store is going to be built."

"Then we need the Department of Urban Renewal and Relocation," Shawn said emptying a soda bottle in one long swig and tossing the empty bottle towards the trash can.

Jenny rolled her eyes at her brothers’ actions, but she stood behind him as he finished booting up his computer. 

"What’s the name?" Shawn asked.

"Mildred Ann Wagaman," Zac supplied. "That’s the one we had an address on. We don’t have any on the daughter, Joan."

Shawn’s finger flew as he started with the Internet. He checked the easiest places first, the name searches, the yellow pages, the location services. He got a couple of matches on Mildred Wagaman but each time the middle initial was different. When he had exhausted all legal resources he turned to what he did best. He begin to covertly hack his way into computer databases. First he checked Motor Vehicles records. He found a match for Joan, but the address was the almost the same as her mothers old address, only four number different. Shawn finally made his way into the Department of Urban Renewal and Relocation computer and he found the address easily. The relocation address was to a Golden Rest Retirement Center in Van Ives. 

Ike wrote the address down.

"Anything else man?" Shawn asked.

"No, that’s all we have for now," Ike said. 

"Well, if you need anything else, come calling. Only next bring pizza," Shawn said with a smile and without anything to keep his interest he simply crawled back into bed.

Taking that as their cue to leave, Ike, Jenny and Zac left his bedroom.

"Shawn’s a little strange, but he’s a total whiz at the computer," Jenny offered.

"Does he work?" Zac asked.

Jenny laughed. "Yes, but he works the night shift, so he tends to be a little grumpy when he has to wake up during the day. His chat name is Vampire."

"My kind of guy," Zac said with a grin. "I like a guy with a weird sense of humor."

"I wish I could go with you," Jenny exclaimed. "But, I’ve got a fill in job this afternoon. With the production being on hold we’re out of work. No work, no paycheck. Although I share this place Shawn, I still have to pay my rent."

"If you need help," Ike began but Jenny put her hand to his lips.

"No," Jenny said firmly. 

"Okay, we’re going to check out this address. Maybe we’ll get lucky this time and find a real connection."

"Good luck," Jenny offered with a light kiss. "Call me tonight."

"Okay," Ike promised.

Ike got back into the car and Zac was just watching him. He had about a half-smile on his face but he wasn’t saying anything, just looking.

"What?" Ike demanded. 

"What?" Zac parroted back.

Ike grinned, he really didn’t need for Zac to spell out what he was thinking. Zac was definitely through his girl-hating stages and becoming very interested in girls. He was very nosy about Ike’s relationships but he didn’t like to ask outright. He’d rather get his information by eavesdropping on conversations between Ike and Tay. 

Zac just looked out the window. He wasn’t going to ask. He was too embarrassed to ask. He’d find out later anyway.

Ike asked Zac to act as navigator in order for them to find their way to Van Ives. It was a good forty-five minute drive and three stops for directions to find the Golden Rest Retirement Center. It was a small community that looked like it was made up of condominium and dormitory living. Ike pulled into the visitor parking lot and followed the array of signs that led him into the administration building.

The person behind the desk looked up at them with expectation.

"We are looking for a Mildred Wagaman?" Ike said.

"Are you family? I haven’t seen you around before," the woman said.

"No, we’re not family," Ike admitted. "But, it is very important that we speak to her."

"Building 16, fourth floor. Talk to the head nurse before you go in."

"Thank you,"

They followed the instructions and found themselves in a hospital like environment on the fourth floor of the building. 

The head nurse walked them to the room. "Do you know Mrs. Wagaman?

"No, we’ve never met her."

"You need to understand that Mrs. Wagaman in the beginning to mid-stage of Alzheimer’s Disease. Sometimes she’s very lucid. Other times she can’t hold a train of thought for more than five seconds. She might be able to remember what happened forty years ago clearly and not remember what she ate for breakfast or who she spoke to five minutes early. It’s very confusing."

"Zac, do you want to stay out here?" Ike asked offering his brother an option of not putting himself in an uncomfortable position.

"No way," Zac said. "I want to see this through."

"Mrs. Wagaman," the nurse said going up to an elderly woman sitting in a chair and watching television. "Mrs. Wagaman, you have company."

"Yes," the old woman said looking up looking slightly dazed. "Is it my son?"

"No Madam. There are two young men here that would like to speak to you."

The elderly woman didn’t even look around or seem interested.

"You can try," the nurse offered, and she left the room with a slight wave.

"Mrs. Wagaman?" Ike said gently moving around so the woman could see him. Zac followed him.

"Do I know you?" Mrs. Wagaman asked.

"No Madam. My name is Ike and this is brother Zac. We need to ask you some questions if we can."

"I don’t know anything," the woman whined shaking her head.

Ike exchanged a desperate look with his brother. "Mrs Wagaman, do you where your daughter Joan is living?"

"Joanie?" she shook her head. "No. I don’t speak to Joanie. Not for a very long time now."

"I’m sorry," Ike said. "But do you know where she lives? I need a town. A street, something?"

The woman shook her head. "Joanie doesn’t come home anymore." She grabbed Ike arm and looked at him intently. "My Joanie was a good girl. A good girl. It was that Randy Phillips boy. He got my girl into trouble. She was good girl until he came along. I tried to keep her away from him. I even had him arrested, but he wouldn’t stay away. He’s bad. Mean. He’s mean to her. He beats her, you know. She lies to me but I know, he hits her."

"Do you know where Joanie is now, Mrs. Wagaman," Ike said trying again. 

"She lives down the street at Randy’s house," the woman said matter-of-factly. "They shouldn’t let a sixteen year old girl live away from her mother. It’s not right."

"No, it’s not right," Ike agreed. He shook his head slightly at Zac. They weren’t going to get any information from Larry’s mother.

After several more tries, Ike finally gave up and they walked out to the car.

"So much for Ma Barker theory," Zac lamented. "I kinda feel sorry for her, you know."

"Yeah I know, but she doesn’t even know what decade she’s in, so she’ not going to be much help to us." Ike exclaimed.

"Pull over to that strip mall," Zac ordered.

"Why?"

"Because Shawn said next time to come back with a pizza," Zac exclaimed. "We need to go back to him and find out as much as we can about this Randy Phillips person. Maybe he’s the lead we need to find Joanie."

Ike pulled over and they order two large pizza’s which Zac made him pay for claiming he was broke as usual. They drove back towards Bel Air and tried to eat pizza and drive at the same time. 

Shawn opened the door after they pounded on it repeated. He didn’t look happy about being awakened but he perked up remarkably when Zac shoved the pizza box under his nose. Shawn took the pizza and turned around and headed back up the stairs. He left the door open so Ike and Zac followed close on his heels.

Shawn had already turned his computer on and was happily munching down on the pizza. Zac handed him a cold 2-liter of Pepsi and watched in awe as he chugged it down in one long gulp. 

"Wow, finally someone that eats and drinks faster than I do," Zac exclaimed.

"Okay, what do you want me to look up this time?" Shawn asked smiling at Zac’s remark.

"Randy Phillips. That’s all we have," Ike explained.

"Police record?" Shawn asked. 

"We have nothing to go on, except that he’s somehow connected to Larry’s sister." 

"I got a hit on Joan Wagaman while you were gone," Shawn said handing Ike a printout. "She’s been in and out of the L.A. East Side Hospital for several injuries. She got beat up a couple of times, and was taken in for drug overdose."

Ike snatched up the paper and read it over carefully. "The address must be an old one. It’s 6961 Whitehall Avenue. That’s right in the middle of the condemned area. They’ve been gone from there for a long time. There has to be forwarding address somewhere. There has to be something more recent."

"People who don’t want to be found often give old address. It’s easier not to find them that way." Shawn said not even looking up from the terminal. "I’ve got a hit on a Rand Phillips. Hospital records at LA East Side. Man, this dude is rough. Knife wounds, gun shot wounds. He owes the hospital a fortune. Same address."

As the printouts came off the printer, Ike read through them and then handed them on to Zac. 

Shawn didn’t have any problem with getting information on Rand Phillips, Randy Phillips, even Randolph Phillips. Unfortunately, although there was a lot of information available on him from the motor vehicles and police records and hospital records but no new address. Even the Department of Urban Renewal and Relocation was of no help, because there was no house under with that last address under his name. The previous address was listed under a Mrs. Betty Elkins. A little investigation on under her name and they came to the conclusion that Betty was Rand’s mother and she had remarried. She had relocated to Florida. A phone call, produced an irate woman who wanted nothing, absolutely nothing to do with her ‘no good, worthless piece of trash’ son. Apparently even Betty had gotten tired of Rand Phillips violent ways and drug abuse.

Ike’s beeper went off and he checked to the number to find out his father was trying to locate him.

"Can I use your phone?" Ike asked.

Since they had already made several calls, the question seemed redundant. Shawn nodded.

Ike called home, hopeful of news. There was none. The new Captain John Willis was installed in their house to take over Tay’s case and he wanted to meet and talk to the brothers.

"We have to go home," Ike said putting the phone down. 

"I’ll keep looking, I’ve got another two hours before I have to go to work," Shawn promised. "I mean you did feed me. If I find anything I’ll call you."

"Shawn you won’t get into trouble for all this will you?" Ike asked. "I mean, we probably should have asked that question before, but Jenny kinda pushed us at you. I don’t want this be a problem for you."

Shawn grinned and chugged down the rest of the 2-liter soda. "Jen didn’t tell you what I do for a living did she?" he asked.

"She just said you were a computer whiz," Ike answered confused.

Shawn pushed his chair back from the computer and stretched out his long legs and kicked open the closet door. The door opened slowly and both Ike and Zac’s mouths dropped open in surprise. There hanging on the door was a police officer’s uniform.

Shawn burst out into raucous laughter. "Man if you could see your faces. Relax. I’m doing this for Jen. If I thought you kids were getting in over your head, I’d pull the plug on you fast or go out with you myself. Anything I find that might actually help, I’ll make sure you turn over to the FBI."

"The reason we’re doing this is because the FBI aren’t doing their jobs," Zac said sarcastically. "That idiot thinks Tay is off at the beach of something having a good time."

"Maybe this new guys will get them off their butts," Shawn said serious. "Hey, I don’t blame you. If it was Jen, nobody could stop me from getting involved. I’d never give up."

"Thanks, Shawn," Ike said.

"Anytime kid, I’ll keep looking," Shawn said sliding back over to the computer.

Ike and Zac walked themselves out the door. "Wow, who would have thought Shawn was a policeman," Zac exclaimed. 

"He doesn’t exactly fit the image, does he?" Ike commented. "I thought he was a software engineer or computer geek or something."

Ike and Zac returned home. Their mother wasn’t too happy with them for being gone for so long, but with a promise to spend their evening time with the family she was pleased. 

Captain John Willis seemed to be much more on the ball than Agent Curtis. He was reviewing the records and he had all three of the subordinate agents working hard. He’d made it clear that no one was going to get any rest until they found some clue that would help them solve the case of Taylor Hanson.