The Good and the Bad

Hanging On

Chapter Four

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"Dante Josiah Wheeler! Quit running!" Scout called after her son as she watched him rush ahead of her down the sidewalk rather than staying close to Maclean's stroller like she'd instructed when they'd left the house for their walk. She had hoped the activity would be a nice and quiet outing to share with the boys on her day off; though the idea of it being peaceful had already been thrown out the window with the four-year-old constantly wanting to rush ahead or trying to take different paths than the one his mother gave him. 

"I have to go potty!" DJ whined as he looked back at his mother. His face was red and twisted up as he grabbed at his pants. 

"I know, but you can't just run down the street, sweetie. You've gotta be careful." Scout tried to tell him as they turned the corner onto their street. "Running isn't gonna help you get the bathroom any quicker if you fall and hurt yourself."

Only whines escaped DJ's lips as he begrudgingly kept pace with the stroller as they continued down the last stretch. His whines only grew louder though when the stroller and his mother came to an abrupt halt. His head snapping back up to look at his mother, a frown quickly taking over his small features. 

"Mommy!" DJ cried out, but Scout's attention wasn't on her impatient son any longer. Now she found her gaze locked onto the familiar black car that was parked across the street from her house. The very same one she had seen only a few days earlier, parked outside the firehouse when she and Matt had been called outside. 

"DJ, I need you to listen to me." Scout crouched down in front of her son, resting one hand on his shoulder to make him look at her. "When we get to the house I want you to go straight to the bathroom downstairs and lock yourself inside, okay? Can you do that for me?"

"You said never to lock the door." DJ's brows furrowed slightly at his mother's words. 

"I know, but it's okay this time. You won't get in trouble," Scout promised. "I need you to stay in the bathroom until I come and get you. Got it?"

"Got it," he nodded. Scout forced a smile as she stood back up, not wanting worry the boy, and headed down the last stretch of sidewalk. She pushed the stroller up the ramp on the front porch before parking it by the front door, opting to pick Maclean up and carry him rather than rolling him inside like she usually would after a walk.

She wasn't surprised to find the front door unlocked when she opened it. Her dark eyes darted around the empty living room as DJ hurried towards the bathroom like his mother had told him to. Only once she heard the click of the lock did she continue deeper into the house and into the kitchen. It was there that she found the man sitting at her table.

"This is considered breaking and entering," Scout noted as she eyed the man, sticking close to the counter as she watched him. 

"I was passing by and saw that your front door was left open. Figured I'd check it out, make sure everything was okay." Voight lied through his teeth. "You've got a lovely home."

"What the hell are you really doing here, Voight?" She got straight to the point, not wanting the man inside her house any longer than necessary. "What? You weren't satisfied with my car being vandalized? Decided to move onto a more direct approach?"

"This turned up. Figured you'd want it back." If her accusations bothered him he didn't let it show as he pulled a small black bag out of his jacket pocket. "Hope you don't mind, I already took the liberty of looking through it to make sure nothing was out of place. Just some pictures, a book, and a set of dog tags, right?"