The dawn brought visitors to Radiator Springs a non-descript black sedan with five passengers. Three federal agents and two policemen. They brought with them an even more serious sense of foreboding. The entire town seemed to hold its breath as the sedan came to a halt in front of the Flo's Café.

Sergeant Dale Geary sucked in a deep breath. The little town was the last place one would expect to encounter trouble. He strode into the café with the agents tailing behind him. Idle chatter stopped, and all eyes fell on the group.

"Dale!" Tex stood up with a smile and shook hands with the sergeant.

He was a tall man, and he resembled a large tank, solid but fit. His eyes held the natural caution of a veteran police officer.

"Tex." Dale grinned and squeezed Tex's hand.

"Good to see you."

"Wish it was under better circumstances."

"Y'all ate yet?"

"No. We drove in shifts all night."

"Better eat. It's gonna be a long day. There's a lot to explain."

The group settled down and Flo began taking orders.

"I'm not hungry." Lightning muttered and shot an annoyed look at Lynda. She was starting to bug him. It was a bit stifling if he was being honest.

"You've got to be hungry." She seemed extremely worried.

"I'm good." He shoved his plate back and stood. The redhead hurried out of the café.

"He has me worried. Doc said he was alright?" Lynda glanced after the racer.

"Yes. He's probably still shook up after all that happened." Strip sipped his coffee contentedly.

"I hope so. He looked a little pale."

"Can I go with Sally?" Cal was slumped down in the booth.

"I think not young man." Lynda frowned at her nephew. "We still need to discuss last night."

"What about it?" He grumbled.

"Don't mumble." Strip cuffed his nephew lightly. "Speak up."

"Do you realize how dangerous it was to be sneaking about." Lynda frowned. "At night. After that shooting."

"I'm sorry." Cal mumbled. "But y'all weren't telling us anything!"

"Nothing at all!" Sally popped up from her seat nearby.

"Sit down Sally!" Doc tried to grab her arm. He sighed as his rebellious granddaughter slipped from his grasp.

The blonde plopped down beside her newest friend. She grinned and grabbed Cal's drink and took a long sip.

"Hey, that's mine!" Cal tried grabbing it back.

"You two are going to be spending the day with Flo." Lynda glanced at Doc for his agreement.

"Flo, do you mind?" Doc finished his coffee and glanced at the woman in question.

"Not at all." Flo smiled at the two teens. "I'll keep an eye on Mater too."

"Huh?" Mater's head shot up at the sound of his name.

"Nothing. Go back to sleep." Doc smiled warmly at the child and let him fall back to sleep against his side.

The town doctor stood as Sheriff, Tex, and the town visitors stepped out of the café. It looked like things were about to get underway. He glanced at the kids and then over at Ramone and Flo. Cal and Sally had their heads together talking lowly. With a sigh he shook his head, they were plotting something.

"Y'all stay out of trouble." Doc strolled out of the café. Time for a shake down, time to collect some truth.

The group settled into Doc's office, the courthouse being the most secure place. One of the policemen was left in charge of the town's current prisoners.

"What'd you find Dale?" Tex leaned forward, eagerness glistened in his eyes.

"It's a tangled mess. That's what I found." The sergeant sighed and pushed away from the wall he was leaning on.

"We gathered that." Sheriff shot him an annoyed glare. "I want some answers."

"Calm down, Sheriff. He's getting around to that." Doc glanced at his friend.

"Right." One of the feds spoke up. "We've been interested in this case for a while."

"Who are you?" Sheriff sounded offended.

"Special Agent Grayson Drivewell." He lifted a black briefcase. "May I?"

"By all means." Doc nodded. "Wouldn't want to stop any answers."

"Thank you." Grayson settled the briefcase on the desk and unlocked it. "I've been given clearance to speak about classified information. It does not leave these walls. Is that clear?"

"Very." Strip glanced at the slight bulge hidden in the agent's suit.

"Good. Now, about the disappearance to Detective Willard…Crawley. She was one of ours."

"What!?" Sheriff's eyes went wide. "She was a fed."

"One of the best. I recruited her out of the police force. She was our contact in the Georgia Police Department."

"Why would the feds be so concerned about the Georgia Police Department?" Doc raised an eyebrow.

"It doesn't just involve one police department. We're talking about interwoven corruption in the US police forces as a whole. Detective Willard was placed where the heart of the matter started." Grayson pulled out a detailed map. "Systematically we rotated her from different departments. Finally, we placed her in Georgia. She stayed there for about four years before her disappearance."

"What happened to her?" Sheriff practically growled.

"What did she dig up? What would cause her disappearance?" Strip looked more confused than when the discussion started.

"That's what we want to know. We received rare communication from her. The longer she stayed the more difficult it seemed for her to get answers to us. We do have records of her contact." He dropped a stack of phone transcripts. "From what I gathered. She'd patched together that someone has been dealing in the black market. They've been selling police weapons and information to members of the mafia."

"I thought the mafia was history." Tex sighed. "This is sounding like an overrated TV show."

"Don't be mistaken. It's very real." Grayson shot him a serious look. "Imagine if the mafia gained a foothold in our police force. If they control our police forces. They'll be able to switch out our people for theirs. Then they can work on the government."

"Anarchy." One of the agents muttered. "It's not a joke."

"They've planned this for a long time. Detective Willard managed to tell us that most of the police departments have at least three mafia members in them."

"Already?" Doc's eyebrows shot upwards.

"Yes. Already. She found something else. We believe they discovered who she was. That's why she disappeared." Grayson frowned. "She had something else in her possession. They couldn't find it. We couldn't. She said she had the key to it all."

"That's why they came here?" Doc looked furious.

"One of her sons has to have the answer."

"Mater is her biological son. Lightning was taken into her care. We aren't sure why." Tex frowned at Grayson.

"So, one of them is the reason we have yahoos shooting up our town?" Sheriff glanced at the feds unbelievingly. "They're just children."

"She could have disguised the information." Grayson leaned forward to stare at Sheriff in the face. "Perhaps they've made a deal…" Sheriff cut him off.

"I'd suggest you get out of my face." Sheriff stared the agent down. "And stop accusing my grandchild and his friend." He stood to his feet and grabbed the agent by the collar.

"It's the logical solution." Grayson stared back at the lawman. "If you aren't careful I'll charge you with obstructing justice and assault on a federal agent."

"Leave the boys out of it." Sheriff released him, shoving him a little.

"We'll need to take the boys into protective custody." One of the other federal agents spoke at last.

"I think I'm capable of keeping them in protective custody." Sheriff narrowed his eyes in warning.

"We don't want to make this ugly for the boys." Grayson frowned.

"You're the one making this difficult." Dale spoke up. "No reason to be unpleasant agent. I thought the fed school taught you better."

"This is a time sensitive case. They've made the move to attack this town creating a distraction."

"Legal guardian of Mater happens to be Sheriff here." Doc nodded to his friend.

"And the other one?"

"He's an adult." Strip spoke without thinking. He didn't want them hauling Lightning away.

"Not according to our records. He's only sixteen." Grayson smirked. "With no legal guardian."

"That you can find." Strip narrowed his eyes.

"Well he's not legally adult. Which means he belongs in the foster system." Grayson's voice was firm. "I'll be contacting a social worker."

"This is outrageous!" Strip looked like he was going to blow a gasket.

"Better get used to it."

"He's my nephew," Strip gritted his teeth.

"Better be able to prove that." Grayson slammed his briefcase shut. "He's going to be a ward of the state again. Then we'll take him into protective custody."

"We'll see about that." Doc didn't like the agent at all. He shot Strip a supportive look.

"Hope you can put up a fight." Tex's eyes glistened dangerously. Lightning had inadvertently become part of the Dinoco family. "A real good fight."