Once again I ran out of time to get a cover picture, and since my in-laws are coming in this weekend I knew I wouldn’t have time to get back into the game to take more.  I’m sorry–I’ll try to be better!

Gentle Readers, I have password-protected Chapter 12 because, while it isn’t the most sexually explicit of my posts to date, I’ve been burned by complaints about such things before.  So, I’m going to make it impossible for anyone to say that they didn’t receive enough warning and impossible for them to simply stumble across the offensive bits.  Chapter 12 has Sim nudity and sexual situations/content.  If you are even slightly concerned that you might be offended by such content, then do not read the chapter.  If you would like to read it, the password to the protected post is iwannasee.

Sorry for the lack of an inventive cover, but this post took me forever and I ran out of time to build a set and shoot pictures for a cover.  Rather than wait another week for more time to make a cover, I opted to just use one of the post pictures.  I hope you don’t mind.

*

*

*

SUNDAY MORNING

I wasn’t sure how I’d managed to convince all of my friends to come out and help me move at the crack of dawn, but all of them had agreed and had even shown up on time.

Mom and Dad were back at my apartment complex, hosting the moving sale.  I decided to sell a lot of my old furniture so that I could find items that were better suited to my new space.  I’d kept a few things, but most of the large items had already been sold.
*
*
*

The floors had been refinished the day before, and I was very happy with the results.  We set my belongings in the middle of the rooms so that it would be easy to put down dropcloths over everything before we began the process of sanding and painting the walls.  My kitchen was basically nonexistent at this time–Sean and Nick had already ripped out the two rotted wooden cabinets and the splintered countertop after the salvage yard took the rusty sink and stove.

I was admiring my floors for the sixty-fourth time when I heard Sean cursing from the bathroom.
*
*
*

“You hit your head again?”

Sean managed a half-smile as he pressed his hand against his forehead.

“Just a small bump this time.”

“I’m glad I won’t be here tomorrow when you’re installing the shower.”

Sean and Nick would be installing a shower stall in my bathroom tomorrow morning, and my parents were going to work on getting the walls of my bedroom and the kitchen and living areas ready for painting.  Sean would have only until one in the afternoon to work on the shower, because he was meeting with the Sunset Valley High School’s technology support guy at 2:00.  He wanted to look at the web browsing histories for both Claudia Abbott and Elliott Foster before we met with the superintendent at 5:30 to discuss our findings.
*
*
*

“I will get this damn leak fixed, and I will damn well get it fixed today.”

“If we need to postpone the shower installation–”

“Nope.  Not gonna happen.”

I rolled my eyes and left Sean to his negotiations with my sink.  I was so busy with the house that the rest of the day passed quickly, and it seemed like I merely blinked and it was Monday.  I went to work and met Sean after to go to the superintendent’s house.
*
*
*
MONDAY, 5:33 P.M.

“They are both gay?”

“Yes, we think that Miss Abbott and Elliott Foster formed a friendship because they are both gay.” Sean nodded as he spoke.

Mr. Young settled back in his chair, still staring at us.

“That….that’s terrific.” He smiled.  “Nothing illicit about that–just the way I like it.  How did you find out?”
*
*
*

“We followed both of them around for a while and we could never confirm any illicit behavior, so we started looking for reasons why he might have befriended a teacher rather than another student. We finally observed Miss Abbott out with her roommate on what turned out to be a date, and once that clicked into place, we knew what to look for.” Sean went on to describe what he’d found in their online search histories.  Claudia Abbott had been looking up support groups for gay teens, and Elliott Foster had been visiting some of those sites in addition to others with advice about coming out to family and friends.
*
*
*

“I’m relieved that he reached out to Claudia.  The rates of teen depression and suicide are alarming, and if he feels like his family will not accept him, well…” Mr. Young trailed off.  “Of course, I’m also thrilled that I won’t have to take any disciplinary actions against Miss Abbott.  She is a very promising young teacher.”

“Some of the older teachers seem a bit jealous of her.” I pointed out.  “Though you’re satisfied that nothing is going on, what if the rumors about her are never completely quelled?”

“Well, honestly, I’m not sure what can be done. I can’t keep people from spreading rumors.”
*
*
*

“True,” I acknowledged.  “But would it be possible to start a chapter of a gay teen organization at Sunset Valley High? Elliott can’t be the only gay teen in school.  Plus, it would provide an appropriate place for mentoring and outreach.  Miss Abbott might even volunteer to take a leadership role in it, and that would let her accomplish the same goals and keep her above suspicion.”

Mr. Young began nodding about halfway through my suggestions, and he agreed that such an organization was necessary.  He promised to do everything he could to establish one for the students.
*
*
*

“I love the feeling just after we’ve finished up a case.  Even if we have ten more waiting for us to start, it’s still nice to finish even one,”  Sean grinned.

“Yeah, well I’m sure working on my house will wipe out that good feeling.”

“All I can say is that you’re very lucky I want to get into your pants,” Sean’s grin turned wicked, and he winked at me.

“Indeed I am.” I laughed.  He had no idea how close he was to accomplishing that goal.

*

*

FRIDAY, 7:15 P.M.

The lovely thing about having a double date involving dinner is that you have a built-in excuse for not joining in the conversation, as long as you keep shoveling food in your mouth.  I chewed my food slowly so that I’d have plenty to see me through the rest of the meal without feeling obligated to speak unless I was addressed directly.  Thankfully, the rest of our party carried on merrily and didn’t seem to notice my silence.
*
*
*

“So, what are your plans for this weekend?” Erica asked Sean.

“Ed and I will do some surveillance for one of our cases tomorrow night, but Sunday we’ll be moving Ed into her new place.”

“Sounds like you’ll be really busy.  I know that Nick has been doing a lot of surveillance lately.”

“Yeah, he’s been taking up where Ed and I have to leave off most days.”
*
*
*

“How much longer do you think it will take?”

“I think we’re really close to getting the answers we need.  I’m working on another angle just in case we don’t get anything from following people around.”

“That’s good.  Maybe soon you’ll get a rest from the surveillance.”
*
*
*

“Yeah, well it’s not like we’ll get much of a break from it.”

“Really? You have another case lined up already that requires surveillance?”

“Well, yeah–the one to track the movement of Dorantes’s drug transport.” Sean said.
*
*
*

Across the table from me, Nick paused with his fork near his mouth and closed his eyes.

“What?  You’re moving on that soon?” Erica was looking around the table for an explanation.

He didn’t tell her, I thought.
*
*
*

“I didn’t say anything about it because of the leaks in your office.  I thought that if you knew you might unintentionally let it slip or you might make a call to me about it and–” Nick started to explain.

“I get it.” Erica’s tone was hard and sharp, a knife that cut him off.
*
*
*

The sound of our forks scraping across our plates was loud in the silence that followed their exchange.  Nick quizzed me about my plans for the house in an effort to change the mood in the room, but it didn’t quite work.  We all finished our meals and Sean and I took our leave after Nick and Erica both declined our offers of help in the kitchen.  I knew that they would begin fighting as soon as the front door closed.
*
*
*
SATURDAY, 10:40 P.M.

“I asked Nick why he didn’t warn us that Erica didn’t know. He said he’d been so busy that he just forgot.” Sean shook his head.

We were outside the local cinema, waiting on Claudia Abbott and her roommate, Angela Murphy, to exit.  We’d followed them all night on what appeared to be a girls’ night out, complete with a few drinks at a local bar, some dinner at The Bistro, then a movie.
*
*
*

“Talk about awkward–that was horrible.  If they ever invite us on a double date ever again, count me out.”

“Aww, c’mon Ed.  You’ll miss all the uncomfortable silences and furtive bickering in the next room when they think we can’t hear.”

“Thanks, but I’ll pass.”
*
*
*

“Seriously, baby, I’m sorry it was such a train wreck.  If I had known it was going to be so awful I would never have agreed to it, especially on the day you signed on your house.  You deserved a real celebration, not a daytime talk show experience.”

“Don’t worry–it didn’t dull my excitement.” I didn’t add that I had my own ideas about how to celebrate.  If all went as planned, I would probably make my attempted seduction sometime later in the week, but there was no way I was letting Sean know that.  I still wasn’t sure whether I had the guts to follow through on my seduction plot.
*
*
*

“Good. Maybe you can have a housewarming party?  That would be fun, right?” Sean smiled.

I had to swallow a laugh because given the direction of my thoughts, ‘houswarming party’ seemed like a dirty euphemism.  Lucky for me, Claudia and Angela walked out of the cinema right at that moment.

“There they are.” I said quietly.  Sean shifted his attention to them.
*
*
*

We followed them with our eyes as they walked along slowly, obviously not aware that they were being watched by anyone.
*
*
*

By the way they walked together and held hands, we were only slightly surprised when they kissed.
*
*
*

Now we had a theory about why Elliot Foster and Claudia Abbott became friends.

*

*

FRIDAY, 1:10 P.M.

It was mine.

I’d just signed the papers that made it mine.  I walked over the threshold–my threshold.  The house was mine.
*
*
*

It was a mess, but a workable mess.  A moldable mess.  I could make it into anything I wanted.  As soon as I’d finished signing the last in the huge stack of papers that made it my responsibility, I started going through the things that needed to be done.  The list was long, but I was excited to begin.  I’d taken a half day off of work so I could revel in the feeling, and also because Mom would be coming by soon to help me start on the cleaning.
*
*
*

A junkyard would be coming by to pick up the old stove and the kitchen sink.  They were rusted through and not worth salvaging, so I’d built in the cost of new applicances and fixtures for the kitchen into my renovation budget.
*
*
*

I had already lined up a service to refinish the old floors, and they would begin tomorrow morning.  I wanted to get it done before I moved a lot of furniture into the house. The painting would have to be done with my furniture and boxes in the house, because my landlord had agreed to let me out of my lease as long as I could get out of my apartment in the next week.  Sunday would be the real moving day.  Mom, Dad, Connor, Kendra, and Sean would be helping me load up my furniture into Connor’s pick-up truck and my boxes into various vehicles.  Nick was going to help out by covering any surveillance that we might need to do for the superintendent’s case on Sunday, though Sean and I were still going to follow Claudia Abbott on Saturday night.
*
*
*

Mom and I were going to try to scrub down the bathroom fixtures before making any final decisions on replacing them.  Sean would be working on the leak behind the sink tomorrow morning.  I’d already contacted the electric company to get the power and water switched on today.  I changed into the grungy clothes and wished that I wouldn’t have to change back out of them in several hours, when I would have to get ready for my dinner date with Nick and Erica.
*
*
*
6:50 P.M.

“Wow, he really doesn’t live far from you.  We could have walked from your house.”

“Yeah, but I was picking you up anyway so I thought we’d drive.”

Sean’s neighborhood had been established by a very laid-back Home Owner’s Association, so there were no rules concerning the specific architecture of the homes.  I thought it would be fun to just walk around his neighborhood looking at the houses, because every single house was different.  The tidy brick two-story that was Nick’s house was nothing at all like Sean’s Spanish-style home.  Nick greeted us at the door and led us inside.
*
*
*

“Ed, feel free to have a seat in here.  I was about to get Erica a drink, and I can grab one for you too–what would you like?”

“Oh, I’ll just have whatever Erica’s having.”

“Scotch on the rocks, then.” Nick replied cheerfully.

“Wait, what?” I looked at Erica, aghast, then relaxed when everyone else laughed.

“He’s just kidding–it’s a rum and coke.” Erica smiled.

“Oh.  I can handle that.”
*
*
*

Minutes later, I stared longingly at the sliding doors, wishing that I wasn’t bound by etiquette and common decency to stay indoors alone with Erica.  Sean and Nick were outside with beers and the grill, minding the steaks.

“So you signed on a house today?” Erica asked.

“Yes.  It’s a fixer-upper on the beach.”
*
*
*

“Does it need a lot of work?”

“Oh yeah. But I’m really excited about it.”

“See, I’d need a house to be turn-key.  The thought of doing a lot of work on a house is just exhausting.  You’re very brave.”

“Or just a little crazy.”
*
*
*

I didn’t know what else to talk about, and I mentally flipped through subjects in my head, trying valiantly to find something to fill the silence.

“So you and Nick–how did you meet?”

“Oh, I hired him to do some investigative work a few years ago, for a case brought against a police officer here.  After the work was done, he asked me to dinner and we’ve been seeing each other ever since.

“That’s nice.”
*
*
*

“Yes, though I certainly never thought I’d end up dating a private investigator.”

“Oh?” I felt my neck tense up–something in the way she said it made me defensive.

“Well, they don’t have the greatest reputations.”
*
*
*

“Much like lawyers and politicians.” I said before I could stop myself.

Erica gave me a tight smile.  “I guess that’s true. ”  She looked around, then stood up and went to the fireplace.  “I think I’ll light a fire–it’s a little cold in here.”

In more ways than one, I thought.

“Speaking of lawyers, how did you choose law?” I rushed to change the subject.

“It’s a family tradition.  My father was a lawyer, and his father was a lawyer, and so on.  I grew up around it and I always knew it was what I wanted to do.”

“Did they go into politics, too?”
*
*
*

“No, that is definitely a first for my family.  But I think I can do a lot of good here, given the chance.”

“I know that Nick certainly values your help.”

“I wish I could do more, but sometimes my hands are tied.  Plus, with all the leaks….sometimes I just make things worse.”

There was no denying that.
*
*
*

“So I bet your parents really like Nick.”

“Actually, they’ve never met him.”  At my look of surprise, she added, “Not that kind of relationship.”

I only had a moment to wonder what the hell that meant before she added, “We’ll, I’d better get the salad ready.”

I offered to help, but she turned me down.

Authorial Interjection: So for some reason, I had the hardest time committing to a cover concept–I think in the future when I have that much trouble that I’m just going to not do a cover for that chapter, because it seriously delayed my release of this chapter.  The covers are fun and all, but I had the pictures for this chapter taken on Saturday.  I spent my game time on Sunday trying to get the cover shot right, when I could have spent it getting the chapter edited and posted.  I’m still not happy with the cover.  Oh well, live and learn!

Happy Halloween early, just in case I can’t post next weekend!

*

*

WEDNESDAY, 9:20 P.M.

“Dammit! Why can’t I ever win?”

“Well, I have been doing this for a while, you know. It would be a little insulting if you could beat me in only a month or two.”

“Still, I feel like I’m not making any progress.”

*

*

*

“You are–I can tell you’re getting better.”

We stopped for a break and as I took a sip of water, a few drops of condensation fell onto the front of my shirt. When I saw Sean’s eyes fix on the wet spots on my shirt, I suddenly realized that I had a weapon in my arsenal that I could use to increase my chances of winning one of our sparring matches.

*

*

*

“Man, I’m burning up.” I pulled my shirt over my head and glanced at Sean out of the corner of my eye as I turned around. His attention was definitely concentrated on my chest.

*

*

*

We started sparring again, and after only a few moments it was clear that Sean was distracted. I knew this tactic wouldn’t work on anyone else, but it was nice to land a few good punches and kicks for a change. There was the smallest chink in his defenses, and I took full advantage.

Sean began to look at me suspiciously after I’d executed a particularly tricky kick to the side of his face, and he called a break. I was busy making plans to dress in skimpier attire the next training night when he shrugged out of his shirt and faced me, grinning.

*

*

*

“Two can play at that game, darlin’.”

I felt laughter bubbling up, and it came out in a quick burst. We were both laughing when Nick walked through the gate into the backyard.

*

*

*

“Oh, hey Nick.” Sean was still grinning.

“Sean, Ed.” Nick’s eyes traveled over me lightning quick, then he was focused on Sean. “Sorry to interrupt, but I was on my way home and I knew it was a training night.”

“No problem man. What’s up?”

*

*

*

“I wanted to discuss some strategy for the big stakeouts we have coming up. I have a little more information now, and I’ve been thinking a lot about it–I thought I’d get your opinions.”

“Sounds good. Let’s go inside.” Sean led the way, after picking up his shirt and putting it back on. I did the same and we settled in the living area.

*

*

*

“So will we be starting the stakeout this weekend?” I asked. Nick had said that we would be starting the stakeout later this week.

“Actually, that’s one of the things I’ve been wrestling with. As much as I’d like to get started as soon as possible, we just don’t have the manpower to conduct really thorough surveillance and to work on the case for SVISD at the same time.”

*

*

*

“We’re already committed to the case for SVISD–but I think Ed and I are close to finishing it up.”

“It might be better to take a little more time to do some serious reconnaissance and to establish a good plan to handle the surveillance anyway. I’d hoped to start this weekend, but I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Nick admitted.

I was actually relieved that we wouldn’t be starting Nick’s mission yet, because I’d received word from my real estate agent that we would be closing on the house on Friday. I told Nick as much, and he laughed at the thought of me trying to juggle a move, beginning some house renovations, plus two different stake-out assignments, all in addition to my full-time job at the library.

*

*

*

“OK, I feel a lot better about moving it back now. It will give me more time to try to think of the best way to get a good line of sight on these gas stations.”

“Gas stations?” I asked.

“Oh, that’s right–I haven’t told either of you anything about the locations. We’ve narrowed it down to two gas stations on the highway to Bridgeport. They are about five miles apart. One is just before you get to Bay Ridge RV Park, and the other is the first gas station you reach after passing that park.”

“Are they in city limits?” Sean asked.

*

*

*

“Just barely–which means that SVPD still has jurisdiction if anything needs to be done.”

“Are there any buildings around these places that can be commandeered?”

“Nope. I’ll have to do more looking at the land around them to see if there’s a wooded area or something to use as cover.”

I was not liking the sound of this assignment at all–conducting around-the-clock surveillance of two different gas stations in the open air would be pretty uncomfortable. I’d probably have to pee in the woods.

*

*

*

“Why can’t we use video cameras at each site and monitor them from an RV at the park?”

Sean and Nick both looked surprised at the suggestion.

“I guess it’s not out of the question–we just don’t have an RV. I suppose we could look into renting one.” Nick was considering the finances.

“My parents have an RV.” I smiled. It was at the same storage facility that held Scott’s belongings.

*

*

*

“That would be awesome.” Sean was already on board with the idea. “It would make shifts a lot easier–you and I could each take one of the camera feeds during the day, and Ed would come after work, which would allow us to take turns sleeping and showering. Surveillance in comfort.”

*

*

*

“This could work.” Nick agreed. “Would you mind asking your parents if we could use it?”

“Not at all–anything that keeps me from having to use the bathroom in the woods.” I said. I knew my parents would let us use the RV, so the prospect of keeping watch on the two gas stations seemed less daunting than it had before.

“Well, since we’re slowing things down a bit on this particular case, and since you’ll be closing on your house on Friday, why don’t we celebrate? Erica wanted us to have dinner together, so how about Friday night, at my house?” Nick suggested.

*

*

*

“That’s great.” I said, and I hoped my smile looked genuine. I had a feeling that any social event with Erica was likely to be more stressful than fun, but I appreciated the thought all the same. “What can we bring?”

*

*

*

Authorial Interjection: So, I realized about midweek that I forgot to make a cover for the last chapter–I had taken the time to shoot the pictures and everything, but I just forgot to make it when I posted the chapter!  I went back and did that this weekend, and here’s what it looks like, for anyone who is interested:

TUESDAY, 7:30ish

“This is so inefficient.”

We were watching Claudia Abbott’s apartment, waiting to see if Elliott Foster showed up.  I had suggested that we split up–one of us on Elliott and one of us on Claudia–but Sean wasn’t going for it.

“You’re just an intern, honey.  I can’t send you out to do surveillance on your own. Nick would have my ass.”

“It’s not like I wouldn’t be in contact with you the entire time.”

*

*

*

“Well, if you didn’t have a track record of disobeying my instructions while we’re in the field…” Sean didn’t need to spell the rest out.

“Whatever.”

“Are you sick of me already, or just the surveillance?” Sean’s smile was easy to see, even in the dim light.  We’d been surveilling Elliott and Miss Abbott for the last three days already. Elliott Foster and Claudia Abbott were staying away from each other during non-school hours, as far as we could tell.  We maintained full-time surveillance by sharing the watches with Nick.  This night, he would relieve us at 11 P.M., unless something interesting happened before then.

So far, the only people in Claudia Abbott’s apartment were Claudia and her roomate, Angela Murphy.  A cursory search about Angela Murphy turned up the fact that she was  roughly the same age as Claudia, and that she worked as a hairdresser at a local boutique.

*

*

*

At least twenty more minutes had passed when suddenly, Sean said, “Here he comes.”  We  watched a figure on a bike approaching Claudia’s apartment.  We held our breath as Elliott Foster fastened his bike to the rack in front of the apartment building and made his way to Claudia’s front door.

Elliott knocked on the door, and moments later it was opened by Claudia.  Her exhuberant greeting echoed across the parking lot, and he disappeared inside.

“So he’s visiting her at home and the roommate is there too?”

“That’s only strange if they’re doing something inappropriate.  If it’s for tutoring or mentoring, then it’s not strange at all.”

“It’s still a little strange–he’s at her home. None of my teachers would have invited me to their homes.”

*

*

*

“I’m going in for a closer look.”  Sean grabbed the black duffel he’d brought and extracted a jacket and a cap, both of which displayed the logo from the local pizza place.  He pulled them on quickly, then reached inside a side pouch and took out a small wireless webcam.

“Wait until I’m across the lot before you go for the car.”

“OK. Be careful.”

“Always, baby.”  He pressed a quick kiss to my lips, then straightened and exited our hiding place behind the hedges lining one of the parking areas.  I watched him cross the parking lot before I made my way, crouching, toward Sean’s SUV.

*

*

*

Once I was inside the SUV, I looked in the rearivew mirror to gauge Sean’s progress.  I found him just as he paused near a window along the side of Claudia’s unit, and to any normal observer, it looked like he dropped to one knee to tie his shoe, then used Claudia Abbott’s window ledge to help himself back up.  Only the sharpest eyes would notice that he left the webcam behind on the window ledge.

“Let’s see what we’ve got.” Sean slid into the driver’s seat, and flipped open his phone to bring up the web address that would show us the footage.

*

*

*

“It’s not an ideal location.” Even though Claudia’s apartment boasted an open floor plan, the placement of her furniture prevented us from seeing much.  We could make our Elliott seated in a chair and Claudia and her roommate on a sofa.  They were talking together, with Elliott smiling and laughing at whatever they were saying.  Unless they moved into the kitchen, we weren’t likely to hear their conversation.

After approximately one hour, Elliott got up to leave and he was followed to the door by Claudia.

*

*

*

We could only hear snippets of the conversation:
“If you need….”
“Thanks….”

None of that was very informative, but Sean’s head snapped up when we heard “…Love you…” in the midst of the conversation.

*

*

*

“They’re about to come out.” Sean turned around in his seat and grabbed a handheld video camera.  He was shooting pictures as soon as Claudia and Elliott opened the door.  I watched in the side view mirrors, making sure to keep an eye out for any passersby that might notice him.

Claudia and Elliott hugged, and Elliott left on his bike.

“I think this warrants ending our surveillance early tonight.  Let’s take this to Nick.” Sean slid back down into his seat and drove us out of the complex.

*

*

*

ROCCA INVESTIGATIONS, 9:34 P.M.

“We heard ‘love’ mentioned, but that hug . . .”

“It wasn’t a romantic hug.” I agreed.

“I don’t think there’s anything romantic going on, but without us being able to tell Superintendent Young what is going on, the suspicion will always remain.” Sean explained.

*

*

*

“So are you suggesting that we continue the investigation, even though there’s no real evidence that they’re conducting a romantic relationship?” Nick asked.  I noticed that he looked fairly well rested and relaxed, despite having conducted so many stake-outs over the past few days.  He looked different, and it took me a little while to realize that it was because he looked happy–excited even.  It was a stark change from the somber mood he’d been in since the ordeal with Rosario.

“Something caused him to reach out to a teacher rather than any kids his age, and that is what is making everyone uneasy–we need to figure out why he would cultivate a relationship with her in particular.”

“And it doesn’t appear to be a tutoring thing?  Did Young say anything about Elliott’s grades?” Nick was trying to anticipate any questions that Superintendent Young might have.

“We can ask him about Elliott’s grades, but I’m not sure he can tell us what they are.” Sean had told me about some of the tricky issues involved with student privacy laws.

*

*

*

“Can’t we look at the yearbooks and the newspapers to see if he was on the honor roll?” I suggested.

“Great idea, Ed–I’ll get Belinda on that tomorrow.” Nick typed something, presumably a note to himself to do that.

“So if we want to know why he’s friends with her, does that mean more surveillance?” I asked Sean.

*

*

*

“Yeah. But I’ve been thinking about another angle we could pursue.  I might be able to get Young to let me look at the computer usage for Elliott and Claudia.  If I can see the sorts of topics that they are looking up in internet searches, maybe there’s a pattern.”

“It sounds like you two are doing solid work on this case. I’m sorry that it involves so much surveillance–I know it’s tedious.  Which makes me feel bad for the fact that you’ll probably have a lot more surveillance ahead of you later this week–but it’s on a different case, so that’s a little better, right?” Nick’s eyes were bright with excitement.

*

*

*

“You’ve narrowed down the possible loading points?” Sean asked.  Nick and Erica had been scoping out sites where they believed Hector Dorantes had moved his drug trafficking operations.  It had previously operated out of Everfresh Delights Supermarket here in Sunset Valley, but once Nick and Sean had revealed that when they were working on a previous case, the operations moved.  Nick had been working to find the new loading point ever since.

*

*

*

“Yep. We’ll be looking at two locations, so don’t anticipate much surveillance-free time in the near future.” Nick said, laughing when I groaned.  I would have been more upset about so much surveillance, but it was hard to be disappointed when Nick was finally smiling again.

Authorial Interjection: So I wasn’t able to get an update out last weekend because this chapter required more prep work for posing than I thought (I had to build a set) and because of this:

Can you really blame me? I’ll try to have the next update by the end of next weekend, but I can’t make any guarantees.

FRIDAY, 5:15 P.M.

“I can’t believe Dad hired detectives.”

Madison Young was back from her cheerleading competition, and she could only spare half an hour to talk before she had to get ready for her high school’s football game.

“Well, if Miss Abbott is engaging in a romantic relationship with Elliott Foster, then the matter is extremely serious.”

“I know, I know, he’s the superintendent and he has to look into this stuff.” Madison rolled her pretty eyes.

“So, you’ve heard rumors about Miss Abbott and Elliott?” Sean prompted.

*

*

*

“Yeah.  My friend Haley was talking about how Elliott is always staying after class to talk to her, and how it was just weird.”

“What’s weird about it?” I had known a lot of kids in school who would stay behind in the classes they liked the most to talk to the teacher, so I wasn’t sure what stood out about Elliott’s situation to these kids.

“I don’t know. I guess it’s because there’s no reason to stay behind–she isn’t the faculty sponsor for any of the clubs.  Plus, he’s just weird.”

*

*

*

“What’s weird about him?” Sean decided to try his luck at getting her to open up.

“I don’t know, he’s just really quiet. He doesn’t ever talk in class.  He used to be friends with the track kids, but when he quit he stopped hanging out with them.”

“When did he quit track?”

*

*

*

Madison shifted position on the picnic table.

“I don’t know.  I guess a year ago? It was a big deal, and all, ‘cause he was really good.  He was the best on the team and he just decided to quit.”

“Any idea why he quit?”

“He said he was tired of it.”

Sean and I looked at each other, both of us wondering about the significance of that bit of information.  Madison slid off of the picnic table and executed a quick stretch before standing up straight.

*

*

*

“So Elliott really has no friends?  Doesn’t he eat with someone at lunch?”

“I’m not sure he even eats in the lunchroom.  I may have seen him eating his lunch outside a couple times, but it’s not like we’re friends or anything so I don’t exactly keep track.”

“Has he ever dated anyone? Perhaps someone on the track team?” Sean was trying to trace Elliott’s reasons for quitting track.  If he’d had a particularly nasty break-up, I could see how the attention of an attractive teacher might have made him feel better.

*

*

*

“I think he was going out with some girl from my Spanish class in junior high, but he doesn’t seem to be attached now.”

I couldn’t think of any other questions about Elliott, so Sean turned the focus to Miss Abbott.

“What about Miss Abbott–have you heard anything about her before your friend Haley said something?”

“No. Everyone thinks Miss Abbott is really cool.  I’ve had her in class and she was fun.  I never saw her messing with any of the guys or anything like that.”

*

*

*

Sean and I took our leave and waited until we were closer to the gate before we started talking over the answers.

“It’s not much, is it?”

“No, but that’s to be expected when we’re playing  the ‘Sally said that Suzie told her that Samantha did a bad thing” game.  We won’t break anything until we start surveillance.”

“So when do we start?”

“Soon.  Let’s see if we can–” Sean began, but broke off when my cell phone rang.

“It’s Connor.” A few minutes later, Sean and I were on our way to Kendra’s house. Connor wanted to meet there to discuss what he found in the archives.

*

*

*

At Kendra’s house, Connor answered the door in his socks and an old ratty sweater that I was sure Kendra despised.  I said that it must be love if she let him keep that, and Connor called me a smart-ass, but in the back of my mind I was surprised that Connor seemed so at home in Kendra’s house.  Things were even more serious between them than I’d originally thought.

Connor led us to the dining table, where his papers and books for his next story were spread out, and the file folder containing the thing we’d come to see.

“It’s the press release about Scott’s scholarship, and in there you can read the email exchanges about it.”

Sean and I both quickly glanced over the file, then I went over it again while Sean started asking Connor questions.

*

*

*

“So now we know that it was yanked shortly before it should have gone to press in the local paper.  Unfortunately, the order to yank it came after Scott had already been reported missing, so there’s no reason to suspect that they knew Scott was missing before the press did.”

“It’s still strange that Donald Price didn’t want to cash in on the free publicity that it would have given him.  I mean, come on–he could have made a personal plea for information leading to knowledge of Scott’s whereabouts, and voters would have eaten that up.” Connor shook his head.

“Maybe Donald Price is actually a good guy, and he didn’t want to exploit a family’s suffering for his own gain?” I suggested.  Sean and Connor both looked at me like I was insane. “It could happen.”

*

*

*

“I think the next step is to search the archives to see how and when Donald Price shows up and if there are any patterns.”

“Do you think you can do it without attracting attention?” Sean looked at me as he asked the question. I was torn–part of me wanted answers and the other part of me wanted to protect Connor.  He’d protected me when he had a lot to gain, and I didn’t want to do any less.

“Connor, you shouldn’t do it–we can find another way.”

“Look, I’ll be careful.  My curiosity has been piqued–you can’t cut me out now.” Connor flashed a smile at me, and I knew that even if I said no he’d ignore me.  Whether I liked it or not, Connor was part of the investigation into Scott’s disappearance.

*

*

*

Authorial interjection: So I’m trying to get back into updating regularly–I’m shooting for updating once a week, but I don’t know whether I can keep up that pace.  I’m happy that I’m getting back to writing, but I’m feeling pretty rusty!  Sorry if this is really rough!