Alex awoke gently to sunlight spilling over his face. He had
not been this relaxed since—
Alex jumped awake and glanced at
his alarm clock. 8:36? He was late for work! He couldn't believe he had slept
right through his alarm like that! Had he forgotten to set it? Why? Where were
the Brendons? Alex kept his PJs on and warily crept around the house, peeking
into every corner.
"Guys?" he called. It
wasn't like them to not show up; they'd made a deal, hadn't they? Or maybe the
whole ordeal had been a really long dream, and Alex was just now waking up.
His nerves were tense, still,
because even if this was a dream, he could never quite forget the way Marlo
would always jump out at him with a loud greeting.
He traveled all around the
apartment, but there seemed to be no sign of anyone else. Next to his phone and
cuffs on the desk, Alex saw a note and picked it up. The writing was a thin,
spidery cursive.
"Have a great weekend,
Alex!" it read, "See
you on Monday."
Alex barely stumbled over to an
armchair before he collapsed. Weekend! This was Saturday! He had two days
off-duty!
After taking the time to let
himself settle into that realization, Alex grabbed his cell phone. There was a
text waiting from Addie.
"Thanx 4 the voicemail," she wrote, "I'm not doing anything
this Saturday. Want to hook up?"
Alex punched the air, positively
brimming with excitement. This was going to be the best weekend ever! He
relaxed for a few hours, waiting until ten o'clock to call Addie back.
"Hey, baby," she purred.
"Hi, Addie," Alex fought
to keep his voice from cracking. "What are you doing today?"
"You mean, what are we doing today?" she returned.
Alex smiled to himself, "Your
place, or mine?" he asked her.
"Well," she mused,
"we met at my place last time—so let's split the difference and meet
somewhere else."
Alex thought about the various good
dating spots in his area.
"There's a little coffee shop
on Main Street," he offered, "I could meet you there."
"Sounds good!" Adelaide
responded.
"Shall we say eleven?"
"Sure, Albert!"
Alex winced as once again, she got
his name wrong.
"All right, see you
then," he told her.
"Bye!" *click*
Alex grinned victoriously as he got
his clothes on; all his "fishing" was finally paying off! He actually
had a second date with someone he'd be interested in having as a girlfriend!
He'd hooked a ringer for sure!
Alex walked out to the main road
and flagged down a taxi.
"The Bean House on Main,"
he told the driver.
Alex arrived there just before eleven
o'clock. He paid his fare and sat on a bench to wait for Addie.
The rich young brunette arrived a
full quarter-hour later driven in an Audi by a chauffer. The driver opened the
door for her, but Adelaide did not disembark immediately. She was busy texting
someone. Finally, she looked up and spotted Alex. Addie sprang from the car
with a squeal, "You're here!" She grabbed his arm and extended her
cell phone out with the other. "Photo op!"
The Audi drove away.
Addie was still busy texting; Alex
hesitantly tried to drop hints.
"Do you want any coffee?"
he asked.
"Yeah," Addie gushed, not
picking up her gaze. "I'll have a double tall nonfat soy dirty chai with
whip." Finally, she picked up her head, looking around with a disappointed
frown.
"So...where's your patrol
car?" she wondered.
Alex shook his head, enjoying the
way she leaned against him when he put his arm around her. "I can't drive
it when I'm off-duty."
Addie sighed and tapped her foot,
but they went into the coffee shop together.
Alex ordered a double tall caramel
macchiato, and when the barista asked, "Will that be all?" he glanced
over, prompting Addie to give her order.
She gave him back a glance that
said she expected him to remember it.
"Also, she'll have a...an,
um—tall, chai..." he remembered something about "dirty",
something "soy," and... "—with whip?" he looked at the
slender brunette at his side.
Addie gazed at him with pity and
shook her head. She stepped forward and announced, "I'll have a
double-tall nonfat soy dirty chai with whip," she glanced coyly at Alex
out of the corner of her blue doe-eyes, "and a chocolate-chip
muffin."
Alex returned her smile, even as he
mentally calculated that Addie's order was a bit more than twice the price of
his own. Like a gentleman, though, he paid up without a murmur, and the happy
couple exited the shop arm-in-arm as they had entered.
"So what is there to do around
here?" Addie asked him.
"Well—" Alex paused to
consider what sort of activities in the area a girl like Adelaide might enjoy.
"There's always the Mall."
Addie brightened, "Oh, I love
shopping!" she gushed. "I'll call Ward back and we can go in the
Audi."
Alex shook his head with a grin.
"Oh no you don't!" he teased. "My date, my treat."
Addie slipped an arm around his
waist. "A cab, then?" she asked hopefully.
Alex couldn't stop grinning
thinking of the opportunity to come. "This way, Addie," he pointed
down the block.
Just around the corner was a
staircase to the subway metro station. The minute that Adelaide saw it, she
turned to Alex and wrinkled her nose.
"The Metro?" she shrieked, "Alex, can we at least
take something with less people on it?"
Alex shrugged, "Sorry, this is
the fastest way. Saturday traffic is the worst about now."
Addie huffed in exasperation.
"Oh my gosh!" But she still went with him.
Lucky for them both, the tram they
took was not too full. Still, it was public transportation, and Adelaide stood
at the middle, refusing to touch anything or sit down until Alex sat down first
and offered his knee for her, which she accepted.
Adelaide relaxed completely as soon
as they entered the Mall. Instantly, she took the lead and dragged Alex to all
her favorite clothing stores. Each time, he helped her carry the various
outfits she wanted to try on, and he went and got different sizes when she
asked. Every so often, Addie would buzz his cell phone and he would come
running to the fitting room. She would meet him in front, wearing some slinky,
fluffy, or skimpy number—frequently in bright colors—and ask him,
"So, what do you think?"
Alex learned to give a neutral
verdict right away. If he waited to long, Addie would begin to fidget and say,
"It's the hemline, isn't it?"
"Don't you think this is a
good color on me?" or
"Does this dress make me look
fat?"
Adelaide became self-conscious very
quickly, and would often leave the store altogether when she couldn't find
something to make Alex look at her appreciatively. For Alex, on the one hand,
this meant they could be done with the mall faster, but on the other, this was
no way to treat a date, and he knew it!
"You look amazing in those
jeans! It's like they were made just for you!" he gushed when she came out
after he had given the "wrong" reactions to several outfits there.
Adelaide still scowled at him as they walked straight out of the store without
paying for the jeans.
"That's 'cause they were made for me, brainless, these are my own
jeans," she growled at him.
She was in a better mood when he
convinced her to buy a few Prada tops that she didn't immediately like, but his
ardent praise convinced her.
At the Coach store, he was back in
her good graces. She let him sit on a small armchair while she pulled purses
off the rack to try them. She put two bags on her shoulders and showed them to
Alex.
"Which looks better?" she
asked, "This one?" she turned to her right, "Or this one?"
she turned to her left.
Alex stared; a purse was a purse.
They looked almost identical to him.
Addie tapped her foot impatiently.
"Well?" she pressed, "Which one? This, or this?" She
twirled with the purses, completely disregarding the people around her.
"This, or—oh!"
The last twirl had slipped one
purse off her shoulder, smacked a salesgirl in the face and caused several
purses from the rack behind her to fall as well. Addie ignored the downed
brunette and the mess, and surveyed the remaining purse. "I'll take this
one," she declared, grabbing Alex's hand again. "Come on."
Alex glanced back, watching the
girl struggle with the bags as the small gold bracelet dangled from her wrist—
Alex blinked in surprise as he
realized he recognized that bracelet. He and Addie walked out to the food court
for a late lunch as Alex wondered—
Daphne. It had to be! Didn't she say she worked at the
mall? One thing was certain: it was fortunate that Daphne had not noticed Alex
with Adelaide...but why? Alex had never cared about girls seeing him with other
girls before!
"—and anyway, I told my agent,
I said, 'You better not let him get away with it or I'm leaving!' and he didn't
change his mind, so guess what I did?" Adelaide slapped Alex's hand with
all the glow of achievement in her beaming face. Alex realized he did not have
the faintest idea what she was talking about. He decided to play along.
"You left?" he guessed.
"Yeeaahh," Addie squealed
in a high pitch. She laughed, "But not really! I marched out the door of
his office like I meant it but actually I just waited outside the door till I
heard him and dad coming then I let him follow me a ways and then I turned
around and was all like, 'Yes?'" She batted her eyelashes innocently.
"And it turns out, he changed his mind, we went back into his office, he
took my advice and made Daddy sign the papers, and that's how I got my
townhouse in the Heights!"
Alex shook his head, "Wow,
that's..."
"Incredible, right?"
Addie enthused, "I'm an extremely persuasive person when I want to
be!"
Adelaide picked up her cell phone
and checked the text messages. While she was replying to one, she sighed to
Alex, "Well, this has been really fun. Thanks for a great time,
Alex."
"Leaving so soon? The day's
not over yet!" Alex tried to show Addie how persuasive he could be, too.
Addie sighed contentedly. "I
know; but a friend just texted me and said he wanted to meet me here, so—"
she glanced up at him suggestively.
Alex nodded, "Okay, I'll give
you your space. Maybe tomorrow?"
Addie smiled, "Yeah, we'll
see; maybe. Bye, Alex!"
"Have fun!" Alex waved as
he left, unconsciously adopting the sarcastic inflection of the dispatcher. He
took the metro home, noting the irony that now there was no Addie to stand against,
the tram was crowded.
Back at his apartment, Alex pulled
out the insurance files from Detective Haversham. Nearly all the items bore the
name "Marcus and Aurelia Staten." Searching on the Internet revealed
that the Statens were one of the rich, old families in America, with roots that
carried all the way back to the Dutch settlement of New York. They had four
children: Jeremy Staten, Quincy Maxwell, George Staten, and Marlo Brendon.
Searching "Staten
heirlooms" produced thousands of
articles talking about the vast amounts of million-dollar antiques Mrs. Staten
left when she died, how some Statens thought the treasures should be divided
equally, or if they weren't separated, the older siblings thought they should
get them; the article mentioned that the three older siblings were all living
lavish lives on borrowed money, and they all had a history of bad finances.
Imagine their surprise, the article continued, when the reading of the will
revealed that the entirety of the heirloom collection to the youngest daughter,
Marlo, who married a simple man named Theodore Brendon (Alex had to chuckle; it
had never occurred to him that Ted's full name was Theodore), and lived in a
nondescript neighborhood.
Alex read the various articles,
talking about each of the siblings and their high-profile lives: Jeremy married
an Olympic volleyball player, Quincy had several musician boyfriends before
landing a proposal from TV heartthrob Tony Maxwell, and George remained a
bachelor with a penchant for serial dating. Their lives were fraught with
scandal and gossip. As for Marlo, with her middle-class husband and low-profile
life, the only things said about her were wild speculations, none of them true.
Her siblings were the darlings of the tabloids. Alex read until his eyelids
dropped, and then he went to bed.
>>>>>>
Alex awoke Sunday morning to find
another note from Marlo.
"Don't have too much fun,
now," she cautioned, "Tomorrow
is work-day!"
Alex rolled his eyes as he tucked
the note under his alarm clock. That was a fine reminder for a Sunday morning!
Alex stretched leisurely and glanced outside. The skies were clear and it
promised to be a beautiful day. Perhaps he could take Addie to the lake today,
and they could rent one of those tandem pedal-boats. Alex got dressed and ate
breakfast, and then he grabbed his cell phone and dialed Addie's number.
"Hello?" she answered it
slowly.
"Hey, Gorgeous," Alex
crooned through a mouthful of cereal.
"Who is this?" Addie's
tone became less languid and more sharp.
Alex swallowed hastily, "This
is Alex," he identified himself.
"Oh." Was it just him or
did she sound disappointed, maybe even annoyed? "Hi Alex."
Alex could have kissed the
receiver; she'd gotten his name right! Never mind that he'd just said it,
progress was progress! "Say," he tried to revert back to his casual
self, "I was wondering if you would like to go on a boating trip around
the lake today."
"Mmm, that sounds like
fun," Addie responded, "But...I kind of went clubbing last night and
had a great time, so I was planning on sleeping a few more hours."
"Oh, that's totally
fine," Alex decided to be as accommodating as possible, "I didn't
mean like right away of course we could go later on today."
"All right," Adelaide
murmured, "I'll call you later, let you know if I feel up to it,
okay?"
"Sounds good, Addie,"
Alex affirmed, "Talk to you later."
"Mm-hm, bye."
Alex hung up and flipped on the
television. Most of the channels were commercials, and those that weren't
played infomercials or the news. Alex switched it off; he wanted to hang out
with a girl, but every time he went to dial, all he could think of were the
amazing dates with Addie. There was no way any other girl could measure up,
whether in terms of wealth or openness. He had really struck gold with Adelaide
Donahue!
Alex managed to find enough to
while away the next two hours. Surely Addie would be her old self by now. It
was well past the limit of a hangover. Alex checked and re-checked his phone,
but there were no calls or messages from his newest girlfriend. Finally, he
texted her.
"So...Boating?"
He imagined her giggling as she
read the message. Was she in fact sitting bored in that great big townhouse
with the snooty butler, deciding what she would say to him about what she
wanted to do? Would she be glad that he took the initiative, so glad that she
would accept his offer?
The cell phone beeped. Alex opened
it.
"Sounds fun. M rlly sick
tho. Srry! Mayb l8r. <3"
Alex sat staring at the text for a
long time. Sick? Really? That was too bad. He texted back, "Get well soon!
<3"
Alex sighed. Apparently he would
spend the day alone. He found himself almost wishing for even the Brendons to
show up...almost.
Alex went for a walk, choosing to
go downtown instead of to the lake. It was nearly lunchtime, anyway, and he
happened to know a girl who worked at a bakery.
Alex arrived at Turnkey Avenue, but
when he saw the bakery, he suddenly remembered the way his girlfriend had
treated Daphne the day before. Would seeing him remind her of the same thing?
She hadn't noticed he was there, had she? Could they both pretend it never
happened? Alex decided to skip the drama and go to the McDonalds at the other
side of the block. As he was turning the corner onto Everine Boulevard, a
powder-blue Miata pulled up to the curb. Alex stopped, concealed by the corner,
to see if he knew the driver. A tall blond guy got out; Alex was confused. What
sort of guy would drive that kind of car? He was expecting to see—
The man walked over to the
passenger side to assist none other than Adelaide Donahue out of the car. Alex
felt his cheeks burn. Sick, huh? Sick of him, maybe? The pair went into the
bakery. Alex couldn't stand it any longer. He continued on his way, determined
to forget about her.
The trouble was, Alex couldn't stop
thinking about her. All he could think about was her arm around his waist, her
lips against his, the way she flipped and twisted her wavy brown hair that made
him want to do whatever she asked—
Alex finished his burger and
started the walk back to his apartment. Why did it bother him so much to see
Addie with another guy? Alex himself had different girlfriends whom he could
invite on different activities. Why couldn't he let Addie do the same? Alex
shrugged. He spent the rest of the day channel-surfing. At about eight o'clock,
his cell rang. It was Chief Prosser.
"Davis, Detective Jamison is
doing a stakeout on a tip tonight; he needs a few extra bodies."
"I'll be there, sir."
Prosser hesitated a moment, then
chuckled, "What, no lady friends to entertain or shadow tonight? That's it,
you'll take the offer?"
Alex understood his reaction; the
Officer Davis of the last five years never voluntarily participated in an
overnight stakeout; the few he was forced to take, he managed to fall asleep
while the others chased and apprehended the suspect. Now here he was
volunteering immediately.
Alex replied, "Yes sir, I'll
take it."
"Okay, I'll have Marnie send
directions to your patrol car. This is a plainclothes job, so just get over
there as soon as you can."
"Yes sir." Alex grabbed
his gun and his badge and headed for the garage at the station.
Back in his own home, Police Chief
Prosser laid the phone down with a shake of his head. There was something
definitely strange about Davis.
Alex arrived at the stakeout, a
certain house down in Peabody Court, at twenty minutes past the hour.
The Detective greeted him when he pulled up.
"Good, you're our last
position," he said. "I want you to patrol the south side of this
block, between those two houses. There are plenty of shadows, and not a lot of sight
from anywhere else."
A short, wiry figure ran up,
"Sir, just got wind of a car matching the description passing—Alex?" the voice rose in pitch, and Alex recognized
the voice of Officer Barelli. "What are you doing here?"
"He's got the south
side," the detective answered. "Both of you go back to your
positions. I want you to know every stick and stone in your area. We're not
gonna lose this guy!"
"Yes sir!" Barelli
snapped out smartly, only pausing to glare suspiciously at Alex before
returning to the shadows.
Alex moved his car into the shadows
two blocks down, and walked back to the area. The shed looked really creepy
from this angle. That pile of wood covered by the tarp almost looked like two
humans huddled against it. Alex strolled leisurely across the street and
climbed a low-limbed tree for a better-hidden vantage point. He pulled out his
binoculars and focused on the woodpile. Now he could almost make out two
people, a man and a woman. Alex dropped the binoculars. As soon as he could
blink, a woman sat on the branch in front of him!
"Yipes!" Alex gasped,
jumping so hard he lost his grip on the tree and fell three feet into a shrub.
"Careful," Ted Brendon
called out obligingly.
Alex heard a burst of static just
beside his elbow and involuntarily smacked himself.
"Davis!" the detective
hissed over his radio, "What the blazes is going on over there?"
"Nothing, sir!" Alex
hastily scrambled back onto the limb with the intangible assistance of Marlo,
"Just a—an owl or something."
"Owl?" Marlo shrieked indignantly. "I'll give
you owl—"
The detective continued, "Keep
your eyes on the prize. We don't want to blow our cover!"
"Yes sir!"
Alex could barely see the ghost
couple's silhouettes in the moonlight.
"What are you two doing
here?" he demanded in a fierce whisper.
"You're on duty," Marlo
pointed out, "aren't you?"
Alex acknowledged her point with a
shrug. "I have to say, you freaked me out when I saw you over there
by—"
Alex stopped talking as he pointed
toward the woodpile and saw the distinct shape of another human figure against
the shed!
"Is that—" he wondered
aloud, too confused to say any more.
"I can check," Ted
offered, and at once he disappeared. Alex peered through his binoculars and saw
both the Brendons flanking the stooped form of the burglar as he stealthily
attempted to break into the house.
"It's him."
Ted's announcement came so loud
Alex almost fell out of the tree again.
"Would you stop that?" he hissed frantically at the ghost.
Ted ignored his consternation.
"Call it in," he prompted.
Alex fumbled for his radio.
"Rat's in the trap," he announced, "rat's in the trap."
"Don't let him get away,
Davis!" Detective Jamison roared.
Alex dropped out of the tree.
"Freeze!" he hollered. "Put your hands where I can see
them!"
"Hold him till we get there,"
the detective ordered.
Just then, the burglar bolted.
"Grab him!" Alex shouted
to no one in particular. The Brendons heeded his request, and did their best to
at least impede the miscreant if they could not hold him.
"Wow," Marlo remarked,
having to throw her whole body at the man, "he's really slippery."
"Well, look at it this way,
honey," Ted responded, fighting to stand in the frightened burglar's
trajectory, "you're a ghost; I think you're the slippery one."
They could not hold him, of course,
but at least the two ghosts' assistance slowed the burglar down enough for Alex
to catch up.
"Get down on your knees and
put your hands on your head," Alex ordered, trying not to gasp too hard.
The man could not figure out why it
was so hard to move, like walking through a dense fog. He obeyed the officer's
orders.
Barelli and the others came running
just when Alex was slapping cuffs on the man.
"Good work, Davis!" the
Detective cried. "That must have been some sprint you gave; he didn't make
it far at all!"
Alex looked toward the edge of the
knot of people now surrounding him. The Brendons waved farewell and
disappeared.
Jamison heaved the would-be burglar
to his feet. "Chad Andrews," he addressed the man, "You're under
arrest for attempted breaking and entering!" He pushed the man toward
Alex. "You want to have the honors of driving him back to the
station?"
Before Alex could answer, Barelli
spoke up, "Let me do it, sir. I was there, too, helping him."
Alex knew good and well this was a
lie, but he didn't mind that it meant less paperwork for him to do!
The detective nodded, "Have at
it, Barelli. The rest of you, good work and we'll see you tomorrow!"
Alex returned his patrol car to the
garage and walked over to his apartment. With a sigh he sank gratefully into
bed and fell fast asleep instantly.
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