Buck Oliver walked down the sidewalk with a spring in his step. It was such a beautiful morning, and he felt so new and full of joy, he couldn't help it. The morning sun streamed through the fresh green leaves of the maple trees lining the sidewalk. A bird sang sweetly to celebrate the coming of the new day. Daffodils and tulips put on colorful shows along the edge of the sidewalk. Everything seemed to be full of new life that morning, and not just because it was springtime.

"Hey Buck!" Eighteen-year-old Cooper Calhoun caught up to him.

Buck turned around and smiled brightly. "Hey Coop!"

Cooper slowed his pace to match Buck's stride. "What's up?"

"Not much. You?"

"Just football practice, homework, the usual."

The friends walked together, enjoying the early morning sunshine on their way to school.

Cooper turned to him. "Hey, how have you and Jules been? I haven't seen you two hang out much lately."

Buck's eyes shifted downward. "We're not seeing each other."

"Got into an argument, huh?"

"No, not really. Me, Eugene, and Katrina talked about our friendship. I realized that Jules had been using me to take the blame for her actions. I'm not sure if she was doing it fully understanding what she was doing, but Katrina advised me that it would be best for her and me to not see each other for a while. And I think she's right."

Cooper nodded understandingly. "That's hard."

Buck's eyes had a sad light in them. "Yeah, it is. I think she mostly sees people as allies, or as a means to get what she wants or needs. I was her emotional support when she needed to vent, and I was her cover if she was ever at risk of getting in trouble. She was using me all along." He whispered, "Just like Mister Skint."

Cooper patted his shoulder reassuringly. "Well, if it makes any difference, I think you made the right choice."

Buck smiled gratefully. "Yeah, I do too. And I think it'll help both me and her. I think it'll help Jules find other people to hang out with, or maybe Connie will help her see what she needs to do." he paused, "I've been trying to put my old life behind me and I didn't realize until recently that she was keeping me from doing that. And well - I'm different now. I decided to become a Christian last night."

Cooper smiled broadly, and his eyes lit up. "Congratulations man! That's awesome!"

Buck returned his smile. "Thanks."

"Well if there's anything I can do, let me know. And you know I'll pray for both you and Jules."

"Thanks, Coop. That means a lot."

"Hey, it's what friends do!"

They both walked contentedly until they came up to Mcallister Park. That moment, a bush by the sidewalk started to shake and a kid jumped out. Buck and Cooper jumped back and both shouted.

"Hey calm down guys, don't get your tinsel in a tangle!"

Cooper looked confused. "Huh?"

"Jay! What are you doing?" Buck asked.

Jay's mouth curved into a smile and motioned for them to come closer.

The two teenage boys leaned in. "I saw something weird over at the old abandoned office complex!" He whispered excitedly.

Cooper's brow furrowed. "What did you see?"

"I just said! Something weird."

"That's not helpful. What weird thing did you see?"

"Come on, and I'll show you."

"Not a chance!" Buck said vehemently. "This has got to be a prank or something!"

"No, it isn't!" Jay insisted, "Would I kid about something like this?"

Cooper crossed his arms. "Yes."

Jay held up his hands. "Okay okay! So I've done some things that were clearly, to borrow a little Italian lingo, in jesto, but this is a hundred percent legit! I can show you!"

Buck rolled his eyes. "Fine."

Jay started walking. "Follow me, meisters Bucko and Calhoun."

'Bucko and Calhoun' exchanged annoyed glances and shrugged.

"We better not be late for school because of this," Cooper muttered under his breath.

They walked out to the building complex several blocks away. They crept up closer to the building through the woods near the edge of town.

"Very nice, Jay. A building with absolutely nothing out of the ordinary." Buck said sarcastically.

Jay looked mystified. "That can't be! It was here a while ago."

"What was here?"

"A big moving van, a bunch of people was moving stuff into the building!"

"Well, they aren't here now." Cooper checked his watch, "We're losing time, come on Buck." He got up and Buck jogged after him.

"But I tell you, they were really here!" He shouted after them.

"Sure Jay," Buck shouted back. The two boys disappeared out of sight.

"That was so weird. I mean, it doesn't make any sense." Jay saw the time, realized he was running late, and tore off out of the woods.

As soon as the boys were out of earshot, a figure jumped out of a nearby tree, shoved some binoculars in a backpack, and sneaked off.


A phone rang. Jellyfish picked it up.

"Yo."

"Hello Jellyfish?" A new york accent crackled over the bad speaker. "We found information about the man you're looking for."

"Good. Did you find out where he is?"

"A small town called Odyssey."

"You gotta be kidding."

"Nope. Why?"

"I just never thought I would have to come back there."

"Well, it's your life. I gotta go, someone's knocking on the door. I'M COMIN', I'M COMIN'!"

Jellyfish hung up. It was nice having a contact who could find information on literally anyone.

He shook his head, "I can't believe it. Why in the world is he there now? It's a hick town for cryin' out loud. And Mitchell's an FBI agent." he huffed, I guess that's where I need to go. If only to keep him happy.

He walked into an old apartment where he was staying with one of his other 'connections'. "I better get my stuff together and come up with a plan." He growled quietly.

Myron walked into the dank apartment. He grabbed an old beat-up backpack and dumped some of his belongings into it.

He looked up to the ancient light fixture that hung precariously from the ceiling, next to it was a vent. Jellyfish searched around and found a screwdriver, and began undoing the screws holding the vent to the ceiling. It didn't need much in the way of loosening, they were already pretty loose. He reached into a vent and searched blindly for what was hidden up there. His hand finally located it and he pulled it out.

A .38 caliber pistol.

He then got on his computer and looked for a bus that was going to Odyssey. One was leaving in an hour. He got up, gathered his things, and started to walk out of the apartment.

He headed out the door and was hit instantly with the roar of cars passing by, as the late afternoon traffic got worse.

As he headed to the bus station, Myron had to wonder if any of the people he had previously met there were still living in Odyssey. He hoped not. It would only make things more difficult.


Richard walked into Jason's office. "Package, Jason." He did a double-take, realizing he was on the phone. "Oh, my bad."

Jason signaled with a thumbs up. "Okay, we'll be here. About four o'clock? Sure. Okay, thank you, sir. Goodbye." He hung up.

"Hey, sorry about that."

"You're good. The mail came and there was a package addressed to you."

Jason blinked confusedly. "Not to the antique shop?"

"Nope, to you. No return address either."

"That's unusual." Jason took the package and studied it for a moment.

Richard shrugged. "Well, I leave you to figure it out." He headed out the door and down the stairs.

"Thanks," Jason called.

"No prob!"

Jason held the package and turned, opening it as he walked to his desk. There was a small box inside of it and a note.

"Written in morse code," Jason mumbled to himself. He sat down and looked at the note, studying it curiously. It had been a while since he had had to decode anything. Slowly as he worked at it, started to come back to him. When he finished the note, it read:

Jason, please keep this package in your care. I'm being followed and I'm pretty sure this is what she's after. I wish I could explain, but I don't think it would be wise, should this package fall into the wrong hands. Either keep it with you or in a safe, at a secure location. Don't let anyone else aside from your father handle it. Thank you.Sincerely, Tasha."Tasha. " Jason whispered. He opened the box. Inside it was a computer flash drive. He walked over to the small coat closet and opened the door. He shoved a couple of coats that hung on hangers out of the way and reached out, feeling the back of the wall for the hidden panel where a small door opened up. Behind it was a safe. He punched in the code and the door swung open without so much as a squeak. He gingerly placed the flash drive inside the safe and shut it. Jason made a mental note to tell his dad about it later.

What was contained in this flash drive?

Why did Tasha send it to him of all people? They hadn't talked in years, and for all he knew, she wasn't even in the country. Was she?

"Hey sis.". Morrie walked into the kitchen where Suzu was sitting in front of the computer at the breakfast table.

"Morrie!" Suzu exclaimed, "I was going to look for you!"

"Why, what's going on?" He asked.

"I was researching Richard."

"Why?"

I told you I was going to! And I found out some very strange things."

Morrie's eyes narrowed. "Like what?"

"Like the fact that he's a convicted criminal!" She exclaimed.

Morrie's eyebrows shot up in alarm. "Seriously?!"

"Yes. He served two years in prison for arson and petty larceny, and was a con artist!"

"No way!"

They both sat in silence until Morrie broke it.

"Well?!"

"Well what?"

"What are we supposed to do with this information?"

"I don't know."

"Should we pretend like we don't know anything, or just-"

"Maybe we should ask him," Suzu interjected.

"We?! No way, if anyone is doing the asking it will be you. Your spidey senses were the ones tingling, after all."

Suzu paused. "Come to think of it, this would explain how he caught me when I attempted to lift his wallet."

"And how he seemed so understanding about Ms. Stone's situation."

"Oh yeah, that too."

Morrie looked thoughtful. "That's so weird though, I-"

"Hey, guys!" Richard called as he walked in through the side door. He slung his backpack off his shoulder and hung it up on a hook by the door.

"Hey Richard," Morrie replied nonchalantly.

Panicked, Suzu quickly deleted the tab on the computer and shut it.

"What are you doing?"

Morrie blinked. "Uh, nothing! Why do you-"

"Richard, why did you serve time?" Suzu asked bluntly.

Morrie shot an annoyed glance at her. "Oh yeah, real subtle there, sis." He snorted.

Maxwell looked unphased. " My reputation precedes me. How did you know I served time?"

"The internet."

Richard nodded. "Ah."

"I'm really sorry about this. She can't leave stuff alone when she's curious." Morrie crossed his arms and looked aggravatedly at her.

Richard shook his head. "It's fine. I figured this would come up eventually." He went to the sink and got a glass of water. He sat down across from them. "Good grief, where do I even start?" He looked thoughtful about what he was going to say next, " So several years ago, I did some things around here that I'm not very proud of. I was a real jerk and caused a lot of damage to property, and people"

"Is that why you were convicted of arson?" Suzu asked.

"Yes. Once I got on parole, I tried to get my life back together. Whit helped out a lot with that, especially when I came back here to ask forgiveness for the people I had hurt."

"Did they forgive you?" Morrie asked.

"Yes, some took time, but yes. Soon afterward, I accepted Jesus into my life. And my life has gone a lot better since I stopped being a punk."

"Wow, so you've known Mr. Whitaker for a long time."

"Yes. You're pretty lucky to be staying with someone like him. He's a good man. He helped me get back on my feet and find redemption."

Morrie and Suzu looked at each other. A light bulb went on in her head, "Maybe that's what we need to do."

"I think you're right."

Suzu turned to Richard. "A couple of months ago, me and my brother did some things that we are not very proud of either. We hurt a girl and her friend. We wanted to make things right, but we didn't know how to ask or where to start. I think we were both too ashamed."

Richard nodded understandingly. "Well, I would recommend you first, recognize that your actions were wrong."

"We've done that." Morrie agreed. Suzu nodded in assent.

"Then, you need to talk to the person you hurt, acknowledge to them that what you did was wrong, and ask them for forgiveness."

"That sounds hard." Morrie said quietly, "I mean, what if they don't forgive you?"

"It is hard, but it's worth it, take it from me. And If they don't forgive you, know that how a person responds to that says more about them than it does about you."

"Yeah, ok. We better get our homework done, sis. After that, we'll talk with Mr. Whitaker about how to make things right with Emily and Matthew."

"Alright. Thanks for all your help, Richard."

"Yeah thanks!"

He smiled. "Anytime." I wish I could have been able to tell this to Rachel. Maybe this is the way I can make up for that.

Morrie and Suzu scampered up the stairs to their room.


"Wow, Richard, you weren't kidding!" Blair exclaimed as they walked down the stairs from the second floor of Whit's End, "This place is incredible!"

"I know right?"

"Mr. Whitaker is an amazing man! You say he invented the Imagination Station?"

"Yes!"

"That's so awesome! I've never seen anything like it before! Even in scientific research, things like that have only been speculated about, and even then, only recently. And it's so cool that he uses it to teach kids about the Bible and history."

"Mr. Whitaker says that everything here is meant to have a purpose, to teach kids about faith, or to help them learn in some way. And yeah, he is WAY ahead of his time."

They walked into the soda fountain area and the laughter and chatter of children greeted them as they made their way to the counter.

They both sat down on the red swivel stools and Connie came up to them. She smiled contagiously, "Can I get you two anything?"

"I'll take Doctor Pepper."

Blair gazed at the menu for a moment, "What's a Wod-fam-choc-sod?"

" It's short for world-famous chocolate soda." Connie explained, "They're superb."

"That sounds good, I'd like that."

Connie smiled, "One Doctor Pepper and Wod-fam-choc-sod coming right up."

Blair, who had been carrying a messenger bag this whole time, set it down. The top had not been properly fastened down, and when it toppled over, a couple of the contents spilled out. One was a water bottle, and another was a scientific journal.

"Oops." She quickly ducked down to retrieve the lost items. Richard got down and picked up the magazine.

The cover read, Psychology issue! One headliner read, Inside the minds of criminals. Why they do what they do and New research sheds light on how learning a new language helps boost brain activity. "Psychology huh? That's cool." He handed it to her.

She gratefully took it and put it away "Cognitive psychology is a fascinating area of study."

"I'm sure it is."

"Like in the article, Inside the minds of criminals, I read that the amygdala, which is part of the brain that is involved in fear, aggression, and social interactions, is implicated in crime. Studies have shown that people with lower amygdala volumes were three times more likely to be aggressive, or even violent compared to others the same age with normal volumes."

"That sounds - kinda confusing." Richard wasn't 100% sure what this meant, but it sounded interesting. And concerning.

"Yeah. The more you know about the subject, the more it makes sense."

Connie came up. "Alright, here are your orders." She placed them down on the counter in front of them.

"Perfect."

"This looks amazing Connie, thank you."

"My pleasure."

Jay walked up and sat down on the barstool next to Blair. "Hey Connie."

Connie gave a half-smile that looked more like a grimace. "Hello Jay."

He propped his elbow on the counter, and rested his head against his hand."Have I ever told you how great your sundaes are?"

"Probably."

"Or how lovely your, uh, hair is?"

"No…"

"Or how becoming your…. Apron, is?"

Connie crossed her arms and leaned against the counter. "Ok, what do you need?"

Jay laughed nervously, "Need? What makes you think I need anything?"

"Well, outside of the fact that you just complimented me on my apron? And this isn't even my good one!"

"Well - since you brought it up..."

"Mm-hm."

"Don't let this get around, but -" He paused dramatically, "I need your advice."

"On what?" she questioned.

"You know that old building just on the outside of town?"

"What about it?"

"I've been seeing weird things going on around there."

Connie's eyes narrowed. "What kind of 'weird things'?" she pressed.

"Well, I saw some guys taking stuff out of a van, and then going into there."

"I admit that's kinda strange, but you never know, they could have been bringing those things in to renovate, or something. And I still don't see how I fit into this."

"Well, as I said before, I need your advice. I took Buck and Cooper to show them this morning, but when we got there, they were gone. And for some reason, they didn't believe me when I said they were there!"

Connie raised an eyebrow. "For some reason?"

"Yeah. I don't know why, I mean, I saw them with my own two pupils!"

"Eyes, Jay, just eyes."

"You say eyes, I say pupils. You can see because of them either way."

Blair quietly spoke up. "Technically, the retina is the part of your eye that is responsible for sight."

"Oh. " Jay paused, "I wondered why I got that question wrong in science class."

"Well, it's an easy mistake."

Connie jumped back in, "Anyway, Jay, you might not like to hear what I have to say, but -"

"Go ahead, it won't be more than I can take."

"Well - you…. Don't have a very good, - shall we say - track record, when it comes to honesty."

Jay leaned back and put his hand over his heart. "You wound me, Connie."

"Think about it though! You've pulled quite a few tricks and scams in your time."

Jay snorted. "C'mon, I was just being funny! Or trying to make some extra cash, what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing! But only if it's understood that you're not trying to hurt anyone, or if that money is come by honestly."

"Ohhh that whole 'honesty is the best policy' thing again, huh?"

"That's part of it, yeah. And that's probably why Buck and Cooper don't believe you, because you don't live by that policy very much."

"How do I get them to believe me when I say this thing I saw earlier was real?"

"Honestly, they probably won't believe you until they see it with their own eyes."

"Hmmm," Jay said thoughtfully. Then a lightbulb came on in his head, "Surprisingly, you're probably right about that, Connie."

"And they'll prob - w- wait, surprisingly?"

"Thanks for the idea, see ya around!" Jay jumped off the stool and headed for the door.

"Idea? WAIT, WHAT IDEA? JAY!" Connie shouted after him, but the bell above the door jingled behind him, and he was gone. "Oh no, what have I done?" she muttered.

The next morning…

Monica Stone walked down through Macalister Park. She held her resume in one hand, and a cup of coffee in the other. She was going to meet Mr. Whitaker that morning at Whit's End, to talk about job opportunities around town. As she got closer, however, something seemed wrong. Was that a police car in front? Wait, no, there were multiple police cars. About four, to be exact. She didn't know there were that many police cars in Odyssey.

"That's weird." She murmured.

As the front of the shop came into view, she gasped, and with a look of horror, she quickened her pace and walked over closer.

It was a shocking sight. The front porch of the shop was usually spotless, but this time it was practically torn apart. Graffiti was sprayed all over the front of the place, the front windows were shattered, and the grass and flowers were torn up.

Monica shook her head. "What in the world…"

She saw Mr. Whitaker standing talking to an officer. She sauntered up, trying not to intrude, but not knowing what to do with herself.

Should I just stand here, or…?

"Ah, Monica." Mr. Whitaker motioned for her to come over, "I'm sorry, but we'll have to postpone our meeting."

"That's fine, I totally understand." She pointed at the building, "What in the world happened here?"

"We got hit by vandals last night."

"The damage looks pretty extensive."

"Yes," Mr. Whitaker replied, "This place has been vandalized before, but never this badly."

"Really? You've been vandalized before? I wouldn't have guessed."

"Yes, two other times."

"Wow. That's crazy, I mean, it's just small town Odyssey."

"Even Odyssey suffers crime."

Monica paused thoughtfully, "It's unsettling isn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"The feeling that nothing is ever safe. No matter how hard we try, things or even people that we are dear to us will eventually get destroyed, or fall apart because of old age, or get taken away from you."

"It is, isn't it? But whenever I get 'that feeling' I remind myself of the verse that says "heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."

Monica paused. "I don't know much about the Bible. What does that mean?"

"It means that no matter what is happening, God and his word will always be the same."

The redhead smiled. "That's nice to think about." She said politely. Inwardly she had to wonder if religion was all they made it sound like. Surely these things were easier said than done. It couldn't be that easy, right?

Another car pulled up, and two men got out. One was Jason, and the other was - Jason's assistant-friend. She couldn't remember his name.

"Hey Dad." Jason called out.

"We came as soon as Detective Polehaus called."

The two men walked up.

"Good morning Jason, Richard."

Richard! That was it.

"How did this happen?"

"Vandalism."

"Do they know who did it?" Richard asked, "I assume the Bones of Rath aren't a thing anymore."

Whit shook his head. "No, they don't." He chuckled. "And no they aren't."

Detective Polehaus strode up to them. "I'm going to have to ask you all to back away."

The quartet stepped away, slowly, as some officers came and stretched yellow crime scene tape around the perimeter.

"This is a crime scene?"

Polehaus nodded and turned to Whit. "I'm sorry, Whit, but you're going to have to wait a couple of days before we can start fixing the place up."

"Is there any reason why?"

"The vandals did some pretty extensive damage on the inside as well. Busted up the counter, wrecked the plumbing, and such, We're going to comb the area for evidence."

"I understand, Detective."

Polehaus pulled him aside, "And Whit." he said in a low voice, "I've been in Odyssey long enough to know that when your shop gets vandalized, it's not for no reason. Be careful."

Whit looked at the detective. "Is this a warning?"

"Sort of. I'm just telling you to be careful. I don't think we're dealing with some vigilante group again."