I walked away from the group after I set Luke on the golf cart with his mother sitting beside him, glaring at me with a look of disgust on her face, and Stephen followed me, trailing behind, not saying a word.

I looked toward the sky, trying to see if Garrett or any of my other bird friends were nearby so that I could talk to them and see what happened, however, no one was nearby, and I couldn't help but feel very annoyed but also understood.

They had other places to "be" and schedules that they set up themselves...

"Damn it," I said with a small sigh and moved a hand across my face before I shook my head and pursed my lips in annoyance, and Stephen walked over to my side, clearing his throat to hide a chuckle.

"Well?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question, and he nudged my shoulder with his, biting back a small grin. "What's going on?"

I held back an eye roll while I pressed my lips into a thin line. "No one is near us," I replied, biting back a tired sigh. "I guess that means we are going to have to find Garrett and then see if there is someone else that knows what happened."

"Do you mean something?" Stephen asked and nudged my shoulder teasingly, and I rolled my eyes and scowled. "Do you think Garrett is someone and not something?" He raised an eyebrow in question, and I rolled my eyes and scowled.

"To me, he is," I said and nodded. "Yes, he is a bird, but still, he is someone, and he is someone important."

Stephen bit back a small snort and shook his head. "Are you going to call him to us so that we can talk, or..?" He raised an eyebrow in question while he continued to stare at me.

"When we get somewhere with little to no people watching us while I talk to him and everything," I replied. I paused and cleared my throat, stuffing my hand into my pockets. I shrugged and grimaced, biting the inside of my lip.

Stephen bit back a small chuckle and slowly nodded. He moved a hand through his hair before he shook his head and cleared his throat. "This is still weird for me, to be honest."

I bit back a small snort and rolled my eyes, pressing my lips into a thin line. "Very funny, Stephen," I said coldly, and he grinned and shrugged. "Come on, we're going to go near one of his hiding spots, or do you want to not do this because you are scared of me talking to him?" I gave him a pointed look and raised both eyebrows in unison, and he grinned, biting back a small chuckle.

"Oh, I'm coming with you, Erin," Stephen said and nudged my shoulder, teasingly, and I rolled my eyes and scowled, fighting back a small smile. "I'm not going to let you do this alone. I also want to know what he knows even if I can't hear him or understand him."

"Hmph." I pressed my lips into a thin line and slowly nodded, not caring but was also grateful that he would be nearby even if he wouldn't be able to understand Garrett or the birds that I wanted to ask.

Stephen cleared his throat and moved a hand through his hair. "So, after that, what are you going to do?" he asked, changing the subject, and I shrugged and grimaced while I pressed my lips into a thin line.

"I don't know," I said. "I am going to get Frank a treat for being a good boy and not doing anything stupid with the child."

Stephen bit back a laugh and nodded. "You will have to record it," he said and gave me a pointed look, and I rolled my eyes and scowled. "You know that they don't like us overfeeding the animals because they don't do anything but laze around."

I gave him a pointed look and pressed my lips into a thin line, and he grinned innocently and shrugged. "Very funny, Stephen," I said coldly, pursing my lips in annoyance. "I already know that I have to write everything down, and they do do stuff. I do not know why you say they don't."

Stephen shrugged and pressed his lips into a thin line. "I know, Erin," he said, biting back a small laugh while he shook his head. He cleared his throat and looked around before he looked at me, growing serious. "Do you know where Garrett is at?" he asked, changing the subject while he started to talk to me with his voice becoming barely above a whisper.

I held back an eye roll and didn't respond while I made my way to where he normally resided near the food stalls. I whistled a tune that he knew before I made my way to one of the more private areas in which I was able to talk to him without being looked at as weird, even though there were a few people that gave me some curious glances but didn't say a word or do anything about it.

Stephen rolled his eyes and scowled while he continued to follow me. "Gee, that was amazing, Ernie," he said and stuck his fingers into his belt loops. "Are you sure that he is going to come to you with a show like that?"

I couldn't help it; I rolled my eyes and let my head roll with it, and he grinned, amused. "Shut up, Bart," I said, calling him by his nickname because he was the Bart to my Ernie, and a lot of our coworkers knew that and teased us about us "dating" when we weren't and wouldn't because of policies that were in place. "He's going to fly to where I need him to be, and he knows that I want him to meet him over there." I shrugged and pressed my lips into a thin line.

Stephen sighed and shook his head before he moved a hand through his hair. "Fun," he said sarcastically before he nudged my side teasingly. He flashed me a small smirk and a wink, and I rolled my eyes and scowled. "But everything is fun with you, Erin."

I held back another eye roll and pressed my lips into a thin line, my cheeks turning slightly red while my heart skipped a beat before it started to pound hard and fast in my chest. "Shut up, Stephen," I said with a small chuckle in my voice while I shook my head. "Just... shut up."

And with that, we walked the rest of the way in silence, wondering what information Garrett would be able to provide us...

Maybe, just maybe, we could do something to help the child before it was too late, even though there was a part of me that knew that we wouldn't be able to do something right now.

But we had to at least try...