Breaking Point

Santa Barbara, 1993

Henry didn't believe in paternal instincts.

He most certainly didn't believe in that new age crap, in those hippie gurus trying to tell people that they could somehow psychically know when somebody in their family was in trouble. It was all just bullshit. With a kid like Shawn, Henry should be having paternal premonitions 24/7.

No, that small nagging feeling in the pit of Henry's stomach wasn't any kind of paternal instinct warning him that Shawn was in trouble. Shawn was always in trouble, the only thing that set it all apart was the degree of how deep he had gotten himself into it this time. The kid was 15 now, and teenagers were known to be rebellious in the best of cases. Shawn wasn't one of the best cases. And it certainly hadn't gotten any better since the divorce.

Whatever phase Shawn was in right now, Henry hoped that it would run its course quickly. The kid needed to straighten out, needed to get over the whole divorce and the fact that his mother had moved out. It wasn't as if they could change it anymore, they needed to look forward instead of back. Sooner or later Shawn would have to see that.

But at times Henry had the sneaking suspicion that Shawn was getting into trouble on purpose, just to spite him. He wouldn't put it past his son, and that was a worrisome thought indeed.

But he most certainly wasn't having any form of parental premonition right now.

Of course not.

Maybe he was having a fraternal premonition.

That Henry could agree with.

Because in all honesty, if something sounded too good to be true, it probably was.

Margaret had cancelled Shawn's weekend visit. At the last minute. Some stupid business trip that had come up unexpectedly and at the last minute. Of course. And of course she had left it to Henry to deliver those news to Shawn. Even after the divorce she still managed to twist things so that Henry ended up being the bad guy. It wasn't as if it was his fault that Shawn's mother considered a stupid business trip more important than spending time with her son, but that was exactly what Shawn's reaction had been like.

Of course Henry had had to bear the brunt of it all, just as if he had forced Margaret at gunpoint to cancel the visit.

And as if to top it all, Henry had agreed to do a weekend double shift. After all, he had expected to be home alone Friday till Sunday evening, there had been nothing to stop him from doing some extra shifts. But now that meant Shawn was home alone. And Shawn at home, alone, without supervision meant trouble. Henry simply knew it.

So it had seemed like a lucky coincidence when Jack had stood in front of Henry's door yesterday.

Yeah, right.

Jack had spontaneously dropped by for a visit. He had taken a few days off and had thought it would be as good an opportunity as any to come visit his brother and nephew.

Henry should have known.

He hadn't seen his brother in a while, and of course Jack hadn't called before that visit. He never did. Their contact over the past years had been mainly over the phone, and reduced to the obligatory calls on the holidays.

It wasn't that Henry and Jack didn't get along, but truth be told, they didn't have much in common. Born eight years after Henry, Jack had been the latecomer of the family, the youngest who could never to anything wrong in their parents' eyes. Henry had been the older brother, the one who had been expected to be responsible while Jack had been coddled and pampered. Growing up like that, it was no small wonder that Jack had turned out the way he had.

Not that he had turned out bad. Not necessarily. Like their father and Henry before him, Jack had followed the family tradition and had become a cop. In a way. He was working organized crime in LA because obviously, Jack Spencer stood above menial tasks like breaking up domestic disturbances and stopping people for traffic violations. No, for Jack it needed to be more thrilling, Jack needed to work the big and high profile cases. And there was no way that Jack was going to wear a uniform for any longer than he had to.

Somehow, Jack had managed to follow the family tradition and still somehow bend it all to his own will. Because that was what he did. Jack Spencer followed an own set of rules, and it was not the one his brother used. So the problem wasn't that they didn't get along, the problem really was that Henry and Jack didn't have much in common.

Shawn, on the contrary, got along just fine with his uncle. Thos two had a lot in common. No small wonder, seeing that time spent with Jack promised time away from all chores and duties. Instead it promised useless goofing around and stupid jokes. In a way, Shawn and Jack were very much alike. Too much alike for Henry's liking. Because while leaving Shawn home alone at the moment promised trouble, leaving Shawn with Jack practically guaranteed it.

So why the hell had he agreed to it?

Because Shawn had been excited about seeing his uncle, that's why. Because it had eased his conscience about not being home for the weekend after Shawn's visit with Margaret had been cancelled, that's why. And because Jack had promised harmless weekend activities for Shawn. A movie. The mall.

All in all, it sounded harmless.

Knowing Jack, it sounded too harmless.

Which was why Henry couldn't shake the feeling of unease that had settled in the pit of his stomach.

No paternal instincts, but definitely a fraternal warning bell that had started ringing the moment he had opened the door to find Jack standing in front of it.

With a sigh, Henry put his signature under the report he had been working on and put it away for filing. He didn't even want to know what he had written. Probably only half of it made sense, if even that much. Wearily, Henry looked around the big office. Frank wasn't sitting at his desk, so he was probably on a coffee run. Henry only hoped he'd think about bringing a coffee along for him as well. He definitely needed some caffeine in his system before they went out on patrol again. Another three hours on shift, then he could go home and see what his brother and son had been up to. Though, by the time Henry got home, hopefully Shawn was long since in bed. If he wasn't, that was going to be to blame on Jack as well. Henry was probably going to come home and find the two of them in the living room, empty pizza boxes in front of them, watching a horror movie on TV.

Why had he agreed to this again?

Frank came back a few moments later, carrying two cups of coffee, one of which he deposited on Henry's desk. Henry picked it up with a grateful nod of his head, taking a deep sip of the strong brew. Just three more hours. As soon as Frank was finished with his paperwork, they were going to hit the streets again and then those three hours would be over and done with in no time. Or so Henry hoped.

With a sigh Henry picked up his already finished report and started reading through it again. He hated it when he wasn't doing things with his mind being all there, and he most certainly wouldn't hand in a report that sounded like the written confession of somebody on a bad acid trip. As he started reading, he barely noticed the phone on Frank's desk ringing, or his partner picking up the receiver to take the call.

In fact, he only looked up when there were steps approaching his desk and he looked up to find Frank standing in front of him.

"Let's go Henry, we got a call."

Henry put the report down and got up from his chair.

"Where are we going?"

He got up as he spoke, waiting for Frank to fill him in as they hurried to their car.

"Downtown, the industrial park. Officer requesting assistance. Looks like a stakeout that turned into a shootout."

They left the building and walked over towards their car. Henry was going over Frank's word in his head.

"What case do we have that requires a stakeout in the industrial park?"

Frank shrugged. "None that I know of. I know Malone and Price went on a stakeout last Friday, but they were staking out a bank."

"Not many banks in the industrial park."

"Yeah."

As they got into the car, Henry couldn't help but feel the lump of anticipation in his stomach grow. But it couldn't be.

Of course it couldn't be.

Just because Jack was here didn't mean that trouble followed in his wake. And really, just because Henry wasn't aware of any open cases requiring a stakeout in that area didn't mean his brother was involved. He didn't know all the details about every case the SBPD worked on. Maybe there had been some developments over the course of the evening that had required somebody to stake out a building. Who knew.

It didn't have to mean that Jack was involved in any way.

Of course not. Jack was at the mall with Shawn, or probably in the movie theatre. They had been talking about going to some movie about dinosaurs. And that's where they were. Jack had taken some days off, he wasn't here for work.

Frank was driving quickly, the siren and their lights clearing their way through the sparse evening traffic.

"We're not going to be first on the scene, are we? Somebody else must have been out on patrol."

Frank nodded. "Hernandez and Phelps already responded. But the other units on patrol were all tied up elsewhere, that's why they called us in. Situation seems to be under control, but they requested assistance to clear the area."

At least that was one thing. If the situation was under control, that meant that the shootout was over. Henry didn't particularly fancy getting into one of those tonight. He generally didn't like getting involved in those, period..

When Frank pulled the car into the street from where the call had come in, they could already see two patrol cars with flashing lights standing in front of an old warehouse.

"Seems like somebody else got here before us. Let's go see if they still need our help."

Frank parked the car behind the second black and white that was already standing there, and the two got out with their weapons drawn. There was no sign of the two officers from the second patrol car, but Henry could see Hernandez walk a cuffed man to the back of the car. Another man, equally cuffed, was already sitting in the backseat of the patrol car, his head bent low and his eyes cast towards his feet.

Phelps, the officer riding with Hernandez, was talking into his walkie-talkie, but as he saw them he came over. He was a young cop who had transferred from Fresno a few weeks earlier. Henry hadn't yet worked with him on a case, but the young officer was well-liked and had an easygoing way around his colleagues that made him instantly likeable. Even now there was a grin on his face that told Henry immediately that the situation definitely wasn't critical anymore.

"Spencer, Holmes. You two took your time."

Frank shrugged. "Stopped for coffee on our way, figured the two of you would be able to handle a shootout. So, what do we have?"

"You missed all the action. Plainclothes officer was staking out that warehouse over there. The two guys in the backseat are pushing in drugs from out of town. We haven't checked yet, but the plainclothes guy says there's a warrant out on both of them in LA. He got a tip that they were here at the warehouse and staked it out. Called for assistance when he got a visual and confirmed that it were the guys he was looking for. Problem was, they made him right before we arrived at the scene. Shots were fired, we intervened heroically and saved the day. Baker and Wilson arrived a few minutes ago, they've been checking the warehouse, see if our guys were alone. Appears so, the warehouse is empty. You should have driven a little faster, I don't think we've got anything to do for you guys."

Phelps grinned with a wink, but Henry didn't see it, and neither did he hear the friendly and slightly baiting tone.

A plainclothes officer had been staking out the warehouse.

Those guys were from LA.

Didn't have to mean anything.

Of course it didn't have to mean anything.

Phelps put his walkie-talkie back into his belt and looked up again.

"Funny thing though. The plainclothes guy is from LA as well, seems to have followed a lead here. And get that, his name is Spencer, too."

Henry stopped listening.

He turned around and started walking past the black and whites over towards the other lone car that was parked a bit down the street, his hands clenched tightly at his sides. He couldn't believe it.

That bastard.

A few days off, my ass.

Jack had been following a lead to Santa Barbara, that was the only reason why he had come here. But he couldn't have just said that, no! Instead, he had arrived all big words and charming smile, promising Shawn one hell of a weekend. And the first thing he did was to ditch the kid for a stakeout.

Henry was going to tear him a new one for that, and he didn't particularly care who was around to hear it. Jack had agreed to spend time with Shawn. He had promised the kid to go out with him, not to drop him at the mall or something just so that Jack could stake out some drug dealers.

The car was standing a little down the street, but as he rounded the squad cars Henry immediately recognized his brother's black sedan. How he had missed it upon his arrival was a mystery to him, but then again he had been focused on Phelps' assessment of the situation.

Gabriel Hernandez had finished putting the two arrested men into the squad car and was standing beside Jack, who in Henry's opinion looked far too relaxed for the situation. Jack had his hands on his hips, and he was listening to whatever Hernandez was telling him with a slightly bored expression on his face. It was easy to read from his face that he didn't really listen to whatever the uniformed officer was telling him.

Henry kept his eyes trained on his brother as he stormed over towards him, trying to keep himself in check. Which wasn't easy. Jack had lied to him. He had lied to Shawn. Actually, Henry didn't see any reason to keep his temper in check. So what if he embarrassed his younger brother, what if he managed to put a serious dent into the tough-guy plainclothes cop image Jack was trying to project? Henry was pissed, he didn't care.

Hernandez noticed Henry when he was within a few feet of them. He turned around towards Henry and raised his arms in a placating gesture.

"He's all right, Henry. Nothing happened to him."

For a moment, Henry was confused.

Of course Jack was all right. Henry could see him standing there, it was obvious that he was all right. And if he wasn't, it would have been his own fault. So what was Hernandez talking about?

But then Henry noticed that the other cop wasn't looking at Jack. He was looking towards the back seat of Jack's car, and with his heart beating fast in his throat, Henry followed the gaze.

And stopped.

Within one second, the anger Henry was feeling towards his brother turned into blind rage.

There was somebody sitting in the backseat of Jack's car. All Henry could see was a mop of brown hair, but he didn't need to see a face to know who it was.

Shawn was sitting in the car.

Jack had brought Shawn to a stakeout. A stakeout that had turned into a shooting.

As if knowing that he was being watched, Shawn looked up from his study of the car's floor and into his father's eyes. The fifteen year old was pale, and even through the car's window Henry could clearly see the greenish tinge around his nose. The moment he recognized his father, Shawn's expression shifted, and Henry was completely surprised to see something like relief cross Shawn's face.

Their eyes met, and the moment that Henry looked into his son's eyes, something inside of Henry snapped.

Jack had taken Shawn along when he had gone to stake out some drug dealers. Every idiot knew that drug dealers weren't to be messed with, and here Jack didn't only think that he could take them single-handedly, but also that it was a great idea to take a fifteen-year old along for the ride?

Those people had shot at Jack. They had shot at Shawn! Henry didn't even want to imagine what could have happened if Hernandez and Phelps hadn't arrived as quickly as they had. Shawn could have gotten hurt, or worse. Henry felt his stomach turn at the mere thought of one of those bullets hitting his son.

And then Shawn broke eye-contact. He turned his head down again and ran his hands over his face. At that moment, Henry saw red.

He didn't remember turning around.

He didn't remember pushing Hernandez out of the way.

He didn't remember walking up to Jack.

But he must have done, because the next thing he knew was that he had grabbed Jack by the front of his shirt and had him pushed up against a nearby wall. His brother was staring at him from wide eyes slightly above Henry's own – Jack was the taller of the two, but Henry was bulkier. And right now he was angry enough to take on a giant if he had to.

"Are you completely out of your mind?"

"Henry, I…"

"You've been working a case? You came here working on a case?"

Jack swallowed, his Adam's apple bouncing as his blue eyes bore into his older brother's, trying to gauge Henry's next move and the best possible way to avoid a violent outbreak.

"Those guys had ties to Santa Barbara. There was a realistic chance that they were here."

"So you lied about your reasons for coming and instead of taking Shawn out for a movie or to the mall, you bring him on a stakeout?"
Jack's face hardened and he tried to push back against Henry, but Henry's grip on his shirt was firm.

"Don't patronize me, Henry. You've taken the kid on stakeout when he was much younger."

"Yes, staking out our neighbor who was stealing our newspaper! The biggest danger back then was that of Shawn falling asleep! Those guys had guns, and they were shooting at my son!"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Come on Henry, this wasn't a blaze of gunfire, all right? Give me some credit here, I was there the entire time. Do you honestly think I'd let somebody shoot Shawn?"

"Up until tonight I didn't think you were stupid enough to bring him into a situation where that question could become important in the first place. But obviously you are! And don't tell me that you had it under control! You can't have anything under control when there's guys with guns around. All it takes is one stray bullet, and what would you have said then? Sorry Henry, we didn't go to the mall, I thought a stakeout would be nice. Unfortunately the bad guys made us and Shawn got shot, but I had it under control the entire time?"

Jack rolled his eyes again and Henry had to struggle hard against the urge to bury his fist in his brother's face. Jack just didn't see it. He didn't see the danger he had put Shawn into. Just one look at his son had told Henry that Shawn knew very well what had happened here, and how dangerous it had been. And Shawn was fifteen years old. Shouldn't his brother at the age of thirty-one be able to see the same?

"Henry, Shawn is all right. A little shaken up, but that'll pass. He's a tough guy."

"Oh, if he's so tough then of course I don't need to worry. Probably the bullets are just going to bounce off of him!"

Jack's face hardened and with a rough and angry shove he freed himself from Henry's hold, bringing a foot or two distance between them. Jack was angry now, too, but Henry knew what his brother was angry about – he was angry about being yelled at by his older brother, in public, when he had probably planned for this to become a display of the superior police skills that he as an LA plainclothes officer possessed.

Henry bit his lip and thrust his hand out, index finger just the fragment of an inch away from Jack's nose.

"That's it, Jack. You've gone way too far on this. You want to work cases here in Santa Barbara? Be my guest. Go stake out as many drug dealers as you want to. But leave Shawn out of this."

"Shawn wanted to come!"

"Of course he wanted to come! He's fifteen, and you probably made it sound as if the two of you were going to re-enact Indiana Jones tonight! You're the adult, for crying out loud! You should have known that it was a completely moronic idea to bring a teenager along when you go after a bunch of drug dealers!"

Jack shook his head and made a visible effort to return his voice to a normal pitch with his next words.

"All right, I understand that you need to act it out a little, what with your colleagues being here. But don't yell at me for doing my job, because I just got two people off the street who were selling drugs to teenagers just like Shawn."

Henry didn't bother to lower his voice.

"And you nearly got Shawn killed in the process, Jack."

"I told you that I had it under control…"

"You know what? Screw that, Jack. Do whatever the hell you want to do, but keep my son out of this! From now on you're not going to take Shawn anywhere – not to the movies, not to the mall, not for a frigging walk at the beach and especially not on any stakeouts. In fact, you're not going to be alone in a room with Shawn from now on, do I make myself clear?"

"Don't you think you're overreacting a little here?"

Maybe it was the tone in which Jack said it. Or maybe it was the fact that despite everything, Jack didn't seem to understand what this was all about. And maybe it was the simple fact that even now, even after getting Shawn involved in a shooting, somehow Jack thought that this was just another day, and that he was going to get out of this situation like he always did – with a charming smile and some witty remarks.

Henry didn't know what it was.

But something inside of him snapped, and before he knew it he had drawn back his fist and was about to punch his brother right in the face, everything else be damned. And he would have done so had not a pair of hands wrapped around his elbow and forcefully pulled him back.

It took a moment for Frank's voice to register over the pounding of blood in Henry's ears, for Henry to understand that Frank had somehow known what was about to happen and had pulled him back before he lost control over himself completely. Henry didn't struggle against his partner's hold on his elbow as Frank dragged him back a few steps. In fact, he was a little glad that Frank had held him back. Not because he would have punched his brother otherwise, and probably more than just once. But because Shawn was watching.

"It's not worth it."

Those were the first words to consciously register in Henry's head, and he blinked a few times to clear his vision. Frank's face was right in front of him, and he was holding him by both shoulders now, to keep him back in case he decided to have another go at his brother. But Henry was past that point now. He ran a hand over his face with a weary sigh.

"It's all right, Frank."

"You're not going to do anything stupid?"

Henry shook his head. "No, I'm not. It's all right."

Frank regarded Henry for a moment, as if trying to judge whether he was serious, but then he let go.

"All right."

Henry drew a deep breath and went over towards Jack's car. Shawn was still sitting on the backseat, and he was looking up at his father as if he didn't know what kind of reaction to expect. The teenager was still extremely pale, and there was a stain on his shirt and a slight stench in the interior of the car that told Henry clearly what Shawn's reaction to the earlier shootout had been. It didn't look as if Shawn had thrown up in the car, but Henry wouldn't have cared even if he had. Jack should consider himself lucky that the evening had only ended with a little vomit in his car. It could have been a lot worse.

When Henry didn't immediately say anything, Shawn swallowed visibly. "Dad…"

If Shawn's face hadn't been enough to convince Henry that his son had just about reached his limit for the day, the cracked voice would have. He put a hand on Shawn's shoulder and gave him a gentle nudge to get out of the car.

"Come on, let's drive home."

Shawn climbed out of the car on obviously shaky legs, though he was struggling hard to hide that he was unsure on his feet. Henry stuck close to his side nevertheless, just in case that youthful pride wasn't going to be enough to keep Shawn upright for the entire way towards the car.

Henry was still angry, there was no doubt about that. And Shawn most certainly was going to hear a few choice words about going on a stakeout with his uncle like that. After all, he was fifteen. What had happened hadn't been his fault, but he should have known that it could become dangerous. He should have known better.

But that could wait until tomorrow. Shawn had had enough for tonight. He was going to drive the kid home, make sure that Shawn got cleaned up and into bed, and only then would he allow himself to think about what could have happened. And if Jack was stupid enough to show up on his doorstep tonight despite everything, Henry might just reconsider punching his brother.

That would depend on whether Shawn was still awake or not.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Present Day

It was just another day at the office.

Shawn vs. Gus – Movie trivia: 10:2

Shawn vs. Gus – Trashcan Basketball: 15:12

Shawn vs. Gus – Online Tetris Duel: Gus won on Level 9. But that were extenuating circumstances, because the paper cut Shawn had gotten just before his glorious victory at Trashcan Basketball had stopped him from using his thumb properly to work the space bar. But it had given Gus at least some satisfaction to win that game, and that had probably saved Shawn from an afternoon of grumpy Gus.

So it was a win-win situation for everybody.

Now Gus was busy doing some paperwork for his other job, and Shawn was busy doing…well, pretty much nothing, though if a potential customer was going to walk through the door now, he was prepared to tell them that he was having an inspired conversation with a spirit in the great beyond. And yes, he needed the squeezy frog in his hand for that, thanks for asking.

Truth was, it was a slow day. They had just solved a case for the SBPD, and somehow Shawn had the impression that Lassiter had been so unnerved by Shawn solving the case that he was now working extra hard so that Chief Vick would have no reason to call Shawn in on the next case. Even though Shawn had absolutely no idea why Lassiter would not want to have them there for another case, they had worked well on that one. True, he had led the detective down the wrong road with one of his visions, but surely Lassiter couldn't possibly blame him for that. Everybody had laughed when he had emerged from that old basement covered in a hundred years worth of dust and cobwebs. Even the Chief had turned around to hide her grin.

So no, he couldn't possibly blame Shawn for that.

But whatever it was, Shawn and Gus had nothing to do. Well, Gus claimed he had plenty to do actually, but Shawn just knew that his friend would drop all that at a moment's notice if they got a new case.

And an hour after the Online Tetris disaster for which Shawn was going to demand a rematch, his hopes for them getting a case rose. The door to the office opened and somebody stepped in. Gus stopped typing, and Shawn swiveled around on his desk chair to greet their potential client with a few wise yet mysterious words, but those words stopped their way somewhere between his lung and his tongue.

"Really kid, you need a secretary or something. Practically anybody can come in here unannounced."

A grin spread on Shawn's face and he got up from his chair.

"Jack!"

His uncle stepped fully into the office, his own grin matching his nephew's. Jack hadn't changed much since Shawn had last seen him a little over two years ago. His hair was more grey now, but he still wasn't going bald, and as if to prove that point Jack was letting it grow a bit longer than police regulation allowed. He was wearing jeans and a white t-shirt, and had his hands buried deep in the pockets of his leather jacket. As Shawn took a few steps towards him, he pulled the hands out and grabbed Shawn in a quick but tight hug.

"You look good, kid." Jack said as he released Shawn and pretended to study him.

"What are you doing here?"

Jack waved him off as he took a look around the office. "Ah, I'm just dropping by." His eyes fell on Gus. "And of course Gus is here as well, I should have known. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, thanks."

There was a slight frown on Gus' face, and Shawn couldn't begrudge him for that. Gus knew Jack, of course, but he had never had much to do with Shawn's uncle. Frank had been around scarcely enough, and after that one incident that Shawn preferred not to think about, him and Gus going out with Jack had been out of the question, anyway.

Jack let his eyes roam around the office once, then he turned to look at Shawn.

"So…a psychic." His grin widened. "I bet Henry freaked out when he got to know about that."

"Speaking of which. Does Dad know you're in town?"

Jack laughed and pulled up a chair. "No. If Henry knew I was in town he'd have probably escorted me to the city limits already, and he wouldn't have been subtle about it. So let's just keep this to ourselves for now. After all, you're no longer a kid. You don't need to tell him everything."

Shawn had to agree with that assessment. Of course he didn't have to tell his father everything. But he didn't know if he wanted to end up right in the middle if those two happened to collide. And if Jack was in town, then it was inevitable that sooner or later they'd have to collide.

But Jack interrupted any train of thought Shawn might have had by pulling something out of the inside pocket of his jacket.

"I need your help with something."

Shawn sat down at his desk, looking at his uncle. "You need my help with something?"

Jack shrugged. "What can I say? I know when it's time to bow before the master. Besides, this one is right up your alley."

"What is it?"

Beside Shawn, Gus was rolling over his own desk chair, curiosity peaked. Jack looked at each of them in turn, drawing out the moment in a way that was typical for him.

"Okay, I've been pouring over this thing for weeks now, but I can't figure it out. I can't make heads nor tails of it. And then I thought about my favorite nephew. If there's anybody who can see the sense in this, it's you Shawn."

Shawn let that remark about the favorite nephew slide without remarking on it. He was Jack's only nephew, and of course they both knew that. Besides, he was getting curious. The things his uncle came up with were always interesting, and he was no longer a kid. Judged by the expression on Jack's face, this was something big.

After another moment of building suspense, Jack finally put an envelope onto the table. A piece of paper was sticking out, looking old, yellowed and worn. Shawn wanted to reach for it, but his uncle's hand shot out and stopped him before he could touch the envelope.

"Jack, what is that?"

The grin on Jack's face widened. "This is our big shot, kid. We only need to decipher it and the big bucks are ours."

"Decipher what? Don't draw it out, what is that?"

Jack leaned back in his chair and pointed at the envelope. "This is a treasure map."

And that was all it took to get Shawn in on the case, hook, line and sinker. They were going on a treasure hunt.