As far as anyone knew, Spencer Lawson and Eric Anderson were taking a leisurely stroll back to her place as girlfriend and boyfriend, with her along the inner edge of the sidewalk and him parallel to the curb.
But what no one but them knew was that the duo was on alert for the man trailing them or any other possible trouble, despite having a friendly chat about the season finale of Doctor Who and future chess games.
As they rounded the last corner, Spencer heard a voice whisper from the hedges. "Just keep walking kiddo. We're ready."
Spencer just simply smiled at hearing her grandfather's voice as she proposed the idea to Eric of what it might be like to have a chess game against the Doctor.
While her mother had notified the police, who in turn reported they had already been getting calls about the suspect from around town and were sending a man to their vicinity, Mike stared out from his position underneath the hedges diagonally across the street.
He couldn't physically see his son Evan, thanks to the younger Lawson's Navy SEAL camouflage training, but knew he was out there since the two of them left the house together on this impromptu mission after his granddaughter texted her father that she was being followed.
But any second now...
Sean Walker had been following the young couple since spotting Spencer in the diner. The fact that she appeared miraculously healed from some very serious injuries less than a week after sustaining them made him even more suspicious of Moon Lake than before, and the FBI agent was determined to solve the mystery.
Whether or not the solution could be used to help advance his career remained to be seen.
Confident that he had not been spotted by anyone, let alone those he was tailing, Sean rounded the same corner Spencer and Eric did about twenty seconds behind them, when he heard a voice call out from behind him, "Well, well, well. Agent Walker. What brings you back to Moon Lake? Unannounced and uninvited."
Surprised, Walker turned and saw Evan Lawson coming toward him. There was no one there! he thought, recalling the scene. HOW? then remembered the man's military background.
Not wanting an encounter, Sean turned to walk away, but was surprised again. This time, by an older man suddenly standing in front of him.
"My son asked you a question bud. Gotta an answer for him?" wondered Mike.
Knowing that if caught, he would be in a lot of hot water with his superiors for conducting an unauthorized investigation, especially after being told by those same superiors that there was no mystery in Moon Lake, Sean Walker turned and ran.
The irony that he was running toward the Lawson house was not lost on him, especially when Mrs. Walker suddenly appeared on the sidewalk in front of him holding a shotgun!
"Down on the ground and spread them!" she ordered, pointing the weapon directly at him. "I may be a doctor, but I also know how to use this, so don't make me waste my time putting anything in you that I'll have to take out later."
Sean Walker looked around. There was no one else about except for the two kids he was following. Spencer Lawson was standing on her front porch next to whoever the boy was, her right arm now in a sling that matched the white dress she had on. The fact that he didn't have any surveillance photos of her without a sling didn't help his case.
As he heard a police car approach with full sirens blaring, Walker reluctantly raised his hands before lowering himself to the ground.
DAMN IT! They're all in on whatever's going on, even the local LEOs! I'll just have to bide my time until I get the proof I need.