Griffin Rock's Secret: A Cody Burns Fanfiction

Chapter 21

     Chief Burns woke up the next morning to the sound of his phone ringing. He groaned, sluggishly turning over to grab the device, which was emitting the slightly annoying ringtone. His morning groggyness vanished as he was greeted by a serious voice.

     "Chief Charlie Burns," the voice said, the question sounding more like a statement.

     "I'm here," He said sitting up, alert and more awake than usual at the call from the Bureau. "What has happened?"

     "Are you in a location where no one will hear this conversation?" The voice asked, now sounding grim.

     "Yes, no one else in my house is awake, and I'm alone," Chief said after quickly checking around his room for any listening bugs.

     "Good. We've got a tracking on Quarry again," the agent spoke, their tone serious and quiet. "He's on Griffin Rock once more, but his location does move around. We believe that he is going to try and make a move soon. We want you to warn the townsfolk about the danger, but do not bring up the Bureau."

     "Understood," Chief Burns was feeling oddly calm during the conversation. "Is there anything else that I should or am allowed to know?"

     "Quarry has a record of injuring civilians and armed forces, at times fatally," the agent quickly explained. "He has escaped from tightly secured prisons over the world. He has had training in the army, and is proficient in many weapons, favoring handheld guns and knives. Should you find him before we arrive, please do not attempt to engage in combat unless absolutely necessary."

     The call ended, leaving Chief Burns slightly shaken at the new knowledge at the front of his mind. He was even more relieved to know that Cody was alright, especially since his son had tangled with the man, albeit briefly.

     At the thought of Cody, the father got out of his bed, quickly got dressed and headed out into the hallway. His three older children were still in their rooms, though he could hear them talking to themselves as they begin to wake up. Morning light was beginning to break through the blinds of Chief Burns' bedroom, and the warm yellow light was welcoming.

     Chief leaned close to Cody's door, listening for any signs that the child was awake. When he didn't hear anything, he quietly opened the door. The bed was untouched, but he wasn't concerned. Cody had fallen asleep at his desk, arms sprawled across paper and eraser residue. He was drooling a bit, his head resting against the desktop, the paper beneath slightly damp.

     As the father went to move Cody from the desk to the bed, he couldn't help but take a quick glance at what his son had been doing that caused him to fall asleep in an uncomfortable position. The glance became a double take as Chief Burns studied the papers and pictures and notes scattered across the desk.

     Notes about the Aed Mau were written all over the papers, rough sketchy drawings of it everywhere. Cody had written theories about Quarry and the Aed Mau, and even some about himself. Chief Burns pulled his eyes away from the mess of ideas and pictures and hoisted his son into his arms.

     Cody was still conked out, barely stirring as he was moved from his desk to his bed. Chief didn't want to remove the shoes, for he would be back in an hour or so to check in on Cody. As he quietly left his youngest's room, he caught a snippet of an argument heating up downstairs.

     "I don't care what you say," Dani was angrily telling Kade, who was even more grumpy than usual. "We need to make sure that Dad agrees with this first!"

     "Agree with what?" Chief Burns asked, standing at the bottom of the stairs. Kade and Dani looked at him in surprise.

     "Kade was just saying that he wants to go and find Quarry himself," Dani rapidly spoke before her brother had the time to stop her. Chief almost stared at his son, trying to process what Dani had said along with all the warnings the agent had told him earlier.

     "You told us that Quarry was on the island," Kade explained, his hands spread out in front of him. "Why are we just waiting for him to find us? We should at least get him into the prison here on Griffin Rock so that the mainland can just pick him back up."

     "I admire that you want to help son," Chief said calmly, placing a hand on Kade's shoulder. "But I have some news. The mainland is sending some people over to get Quarry very soon, so we just need to hang tight."

     "Whoa, dad," Dani said, startled at her father's abnormally calm voice. "Are you feeling okay? You... You're really calm with this-" she lowered her voice to a whisper so that the two men had to lean in to hear her. "With the crazy man who kidnapped my little brother being loose on Griffin Rock. Along with a giant fire breathing cat who has appeared before Cody twice now and nearly killed Graham."

     Chief Burns sighed, knowing that it was going to be hard to keep Cody inside until Quarry was caught by the F.B.I.. He leaned back a little, turning his head towards the clock mounted on the kitchen wall. It was only 7:08. He sighed again before sitting down at the table and resting his head in his hands.

     "Hey, look," Kade said after a period of silence. "Why don't we just have today be a day where we just relax, and try to have family bonding time?"

     "That sounds great, but I can't join," a tired voice spoke up from the stairs. Graham was rubbing his eyes, his work clothes already on. "I'm trying to help the bots with Boulder's injuries. He is my partner, after all."

     "Then let me join you," Dani said, grabbing two cups of coffee from the counter. "I'm trained in medical stuff, and I should learn how to help alien injuries as well."

     "Hey, that's my cup of coffee!" Kade complained, crossing his arms at the other two siblings. Dani glanced back at her redhead brother.

     "Not anymore," Dani said. "Go make another cup if you really want coffee."

     Kade grumbled before heading over to the counter to make another cup of coffee for himself. Chief's mind was quite busy however, warnings and the strange happenings, and the work at keeping the town and his family safe were all weighing on his mind. Sitting at the table, with the morning slowly drifting away, he tried to put away the nagging thought that something just wasn't right, Kade leaving to go and doing his own thing.