Griffin Rock's Secret: A Cody Burns Fanfiction

Chapter 25

     The F.B.I. agents were unable to get a tracing on Quarry as Kade notified his father about what had happened. The rain was still pouring down in sheets, thunder and lightning rolling through the dark clouds, illuminating the night every now and then. There was no way the helicopters could search the skies with the current weather, and the roads were too slick and dark for either the cars or bots to travel on.

     Chief Burns could only feel numb, the shock at the events that had happened to much for him to properly process. He stiffly sat in the bunker's couch for what seemed like hours, his mind almost blank and limbs numb. He only made movement when Kade and Heatwave arrived, drenched and dripping water, looking defeated. Graham and Dani, who usually made sure to respect their brother's personal space went to give him a big hug, which he accepted rather hesitantly.

     "I....." Kade could barely look at his father through the embrace, his face contorted into an expression of harsh regret. "I... We tried so hard dad. I-I don't know what happened, but w-we tried-" Kade stopped talking as his voice broke, along with his composure. He felt horrible at knowing that he was just inches away from his little brother, seconds away from saving him, and he had failed.

     Heatwave couldn't bring himself to say anything. Seeing how vulnerable his partner was made him feel even worse. He couldn't recall a time when Kade had even gotten close to crying openly. He clenched his metal hands into fists, anger flooding through him, angry that he had failed the first person to accept them openly.

     Dani and Graham were crying with Kade, though Chief Burns hung his head in silence. His silent tears threatened to make him break down entirely. Hearing quick footsteps through the tears, Chief Burns quickly wiped the tears away and brought back his composure. Two agents were walking towards the couch, a thick folder being thrust towards the policeman. Why they wore dark sunglasses inside as well was beyond Chief Burns as he took the folder.

     "Do you recognize these photos?" One of the agents asked, opening the folder and pointing at two pictures. Two familiar faces looked back at Chief Burns as he scanned over the first page of the file briefly.

     "Yes," he said, looking back up at the two agents. "Had to deal with them a few months ago. What do they have to do with Quarry and my son?"

     "Quarry will most likely use your son as leverage to get what he wants," the agent on the left said, crossing her arms, her dark sunglasses blocking her eyes. "That makes him even more dangerous. However, getting your son out of the crossfire is the main priority." The agent on the right pointed to the photos again.

     "That's where these two come into the plan," the agent gave a quick look around, as if checking for something, then straightened his tie before continuing. "They are very good with technology and planning, even if they mainly use their skills for petty acts of thievery. They could map out Quarry's place quickly, giving entry points and escape routes for the Bureau."

     "Taking their 'quirks' into account however, we would have to keep a close eye on them," the female agent warned. "They would give us a good way to get into the hideout, if there even is one, but keeping them focused? Anyway, Quarry has no record of repeated hideouts or work stations. If the chief thinks that bringing in two more criminals to grab another criminal is a better idea than just letting the Bureau work this out, then-"

     "We are running out of time," a new voice broke into the conversation. The three adults turned to see another agent hurrying into the room. "Quarry has no sign of being on the island, and we have yet to get any tracing on him. The longer the child stays in Quarry's company, the lower the chances of him surviving are. We have to focus on getting coordinates on Quarry and getting the minor out of there." The new agent spotted the folder in Chief Burns hands. A flicker of remorse flashed across the stern face for a second as he saw the file.

     "Agent Dean, that's a great idea, but getting into contact with them and getting them over to Griffin Rock would take up time we don't have. I'm sorry sir, but we have to forgo bringing them in." The agent beckoned the three adults to follow him, leading them into a hastily built room full of computers and tracking devices and phones and whirring gadgets. Chief Burns noticed that there were multiple files of Quarry pulled up on multiple computers, agents tapping away at the keys search for something.

     "We have a few places where Quarry could have gone," the agent said, gesturing to a computer that had a map pulled up on its screen. "It is incredibly unlikely that he would have gone back to the mainland. The only location that he would have gone to has already been searched multiple times since he escaped the prison. We have people watching the place 24/7 now as well." The map screen flickered for a moment, along with the rest of the room's lighting.

     "The wind and rain must have started affecting the wires," Chief Burns said, glancing up at the ceiling. Looking back at the computer, he noticed something strange about a cluster of green dots in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. "What are those?"

     "Agent Cooper, zoom in on those islands," the agent said. The female agent leaned forward and pressed some keys, the screen enlarging the dots to island shaped blots. Before Chief Burns could look at the islands closer, his phone rang. He went to answer the phone, but Agent Dean stopped him.

     "Let's get a tracing on the number," He said before alerting another agent who was near a tracing device. "It could be Quarry for all we know." Before Chief Burns could answer the unknown caller, the phone stopped ringing, and everyone froze. Tensions were high as the policeman went to go and see who the caller was in his call history.

     "The number doesn't even exist in my caller history," Chief Burns said slowly, confusion written all over his face.

     "There's no way for us to track the number when there's no number." Agent Cooper reasoned, her face grim. Chief Burns tried to not think about how long Quarry would elude them, casting his gaze around the room for something to distract his thoughts. His eyes landed on a table where a syringe and a small crushed device lay.

     Moving over to the table, Chief Burns looked down at the demolished comlink, before letting his gaze turn to the syringe. There was still a small bit of a yellowish substance inside, and he briefly remembered Quarry talking about something called pentobarbital. The agent who had addressed the first two agents walked over to the policeman.

     "Found these in a storage unit a few tunnels down," He explained, looking down at the two items. "Followed boot marks in the dirt until we discovered the storage. Your son is a very smart child if Quarry had to chase him. Especially if the darts we found in the house did not find their target." The agent gestured towards another table a few feet away, two feathered tranquilizer darts lying side by side.

     "Is there anything me or my family can do to help?" Chief Burns asked, trying to keep his voice steady. Seeing the darts and the syringe had made his stomach feel sour, but the comlink had nearly caused his composure to break entirely. How long had his son run from Quarry, alone in the dark while the rest of them had been out of reach?

     "Agent Fowler!" A voice called from the elevator to the bunker, urgent and sharp. "We've got a situation up here!" The agent placed a hand on Chief Burns' shoulder before heading towards the elevator. As Chief Burns turned away from the table, his phone rang again.