By Paul Cwick

Dammit, where the hell is it?!? Greg thought frantically as he tossed aside the bottle of shampoo. I know she has it hidden away somewhere!!! I just know it!! But where the hell could it be?!?

Greg was almost reduced to tears, he was so frustrated. He’d been searching Cat’s apartment for hours now, and he still couldn’t find her secret stash of the invisibility potion. It had to be here, he knew. She always seemed to have a ready-made dose whenever she needed it, so she must have a fairly large supply of it somewhere in the apartment. But where? It was driving him mad.

He’d looked through Cat’s living room, he’d looked through her kitchen cabinets (he’d even looked in the refrigerator, under it and behind it, but still without finding anything), he’d looked through her bedroom and bathroom, he’d looked in just about every hiding-place he could think of, but he still couldn’t find it anywhere.

Moreover, in the process of searching, he’d left the place in even more of a mess than it was when he started. He’d planned to put everything back where it was just as soon as he’d found the potion. But now, time was running out, and Greg doubted that he’d have time to find the potion, let alone straighten up the apartment afterwards.

He sat down on the tiled bathroom floor, close to tears. I give up! he thought. It’s hopeless! I can’t find it! I just can’t find it anywhere!! He sat there, sobbing in helpless frustration for an untold period of time, trying desperately not to break down completely. Then a sudden loud noise from his right hip made him jump almost out of his skin. He let out a yelp and leapt almost to his feet before he recognized the sound as the ringing of the cell phone in his pocket.

He pulled the phone from his pocket with a trembling hand and brought it to his ear. "H-h-h-hello?" he said, quietly. "Oh, it’s you. No, I haven’t found it yet! If I found it, would I still be in here, farting around? No…no…" He sighed. "Well, of course I’m looking! Yes, I’m looking careful! No, no I don’t need help! Look, just—" he caught himself in time, just as his voice began to rise in volume. He immediately dropped back down to a near-whisper. "Look, I know you’re trying to help. And I appreciate it. But--" he faltered, as he surveyed the disarray of the living-room and bedroom. "You just don’t understand! The place is a mess! I’ve gone through the whole damned apartment with a fine-tooth comb, and I just can’t find it! And I’m never going to get all this stuff put back the way it was, either!"

He paused, listening. "Yes, I know it’s getting late! I know I’m running out of time! Yes, I know the longer I stay in here, the more likely I’m going to get caught! I’m trying to hurry!" He sighed, closing his eyes. "Yes. Yes. Yes, I know that, but it’s also not helping to have to waste time answering the phone every five minutes! I mean, this is the third time you’ve called now!" He paused for a moment. "I know, but first you call, wanting to know how I’m doing, then she calls, wanting to know how I’m doing, and between the two of you calling every two seconds, how can I get anything done? Well, okay! All right!"

He took a breath and slowly released it. "Look, I’m sorry, all right? I didn’t mean to blow up at you. I know you’re just trying to help. But I’m under enough pressure as it is, you know? All right." He sighed one last time. "Okay. I’ll call you when I find the stuff. If I find it, that is. Okay? Okay. ‘Bye." He hung up, dejectedly.

Jeez! Greg thought. As if I don’t have enough troubles, I’ve got the two of them breathing down my neck! This isn’t easy, for God’s sake! Can’t they realize that? I’m doing the best I can!

Greg put the phone back into his pocket and looked around the apartment one last time. It’s hopeless, he thought. Just hopeless… He shook his head in abject defeat. Then a new thought occurred to him. Well, he thought, maybe I could try the bedroom again. Maybe there’s a spot I overlooked. Maybe she’s got the stuff hidden inside the box-spring of her bed or maybe there’s a hidden compartment in the dresser… Or maybe she’s got it hidden inside some of that junk in the closet… As he thought about all the tons of junk jammed into the closet, and how difficult (if not impossible) it would be to go through it all, he got a sick feeling in his stomach. He tried to ignore it, and instead concentrated on trying to think of other potential hiding-places he might have missed the first time around. He heaved a heavy sigh and walked stiffly back into the cluttered bedroom. I’ll try one more time. If I still can’t find anything, then I give up…I’ll try to straighten up this mess the best I can, call it quits and just get the hell out of here!

Greg stepped into the bedroom, and crossed over to the closet. He pulled open the closet door and immediately an avalanche of boxes, bags, cases and assorted junk came thundering out, cascading all over the bedroom floor, and nearly burying Greg in the process.

* * *

Cat finished up the last of the paperwork piled up on her desk, signing off the last check with a flourish and sealing it inside an envelope. In only a few hours’ time, she had cleared up the mess of paperwork that had accumulated during her absence. Moreover, she had also straightened out the mess that the inventory had become, organizing and prioritizing the various stock into some semblance of order. She looked around the little shop, now neat, tidy and organized, due to her efforts, and at her two co-workers, who were straightening out the last of the stock on the shelves. Not a bad day, all in all, she thought. This place starting to look like a business again. She tossed the pen to one side of the desk top, leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes with a satisfied smile on her face.

Cat felt wonderful. Immersing herself in her work was the best medicine she could have, she now realized. Apart from getting her mind off of him for a few hours, it also did wonders for her self-esteem, reminding her of her own talents and abilities, which had made her so successful in her career. She basked in the self-satisfaction that came from independent success.

So wrapped up was Cat in her own positive feelings, that she scarcely noticed the mood of her co-workers. Although they were glad that Cat had finally come back in to work, they now found themselves almost regretting that they had. All morning and afternoon, Cat had been driving them like a virtual slavemaster. They barely had five minutes to catch their breath, without Cat breathing down their necks, demanding to know what they were doing and how much more time were they going to waste, reminding them that there was still a lot of work to be done, and they couldn’t afford to waste time on inconsequentials, etc. Fortunately, it was now mid-afternoon, the bulk of the work had been done, and Crystal and Rain at last had a chance to breathe easy. They each finished the last few details of the tasks they had been given, then sat down behind the store counter for a few minutes’ break.

They looked at each other and gave each other a weary smile that only comes from exhaustion, and laughed weakly.

"**Whew!**" Crystal sighed, smiling. "She didn’t waste any time, did she?" She whispered, quietly, so that Cat would not hear. "First day back to work and BOOM! Total obsessive neat freak! Sheesh, I know the place was a little disorganized, but I didn’t think we were going to have to straighten it all out in one day!"

"Me neither," Rain answered, also in a whisper. "I know she gets in these, like, totally obsessive moods, but I’ve never seen her like this before! She’s, like, totally driven!"

"Yeah, well…" Crystal said, still with a weary grin. "At least it’s done now, so we can rest easy for a while. And she cut all the checks, too, and sent most of them out, so we don’t have to worry about that for a while." She let out another sigh. Then, "Say, how’s about some coffee? I’m gonna go ‘cross the street for a mocha. Want me to bring you any?"

"Um—yeah, could you get me a latte’?" Rain answered, reaching into her purse, pulling out a couple of dollar-bills and handing them to Crystal.

"Sure," said Crystal, taking the bills. "Say, Cat?" she called to the back room. "I’m going across the street for some coffee; want me to bring you anything?"

"No, thanks, I’m fine." Cat answered.

"Okay." Crystal turned and left the store.

Rain looked around the small shop. Well, she thought. At least it looks like a real store again and not a dump! She rose from her chair and reached for the broom in the corner and proceeded to sweep the floor. Just a few more finishing touches, she thought.

A short time later, the little bell over the front door jingled as the door opened. Crystal walked in carrying two large paper cups.

"Here, I think this one’s yours," she said, handing one of the cups to Rain. "Careful, it’s hot."

"Thanks," Rain said, taking the cup. She took a sip. "Mmm, it actually tastes half-decent, for a change." She said.

"Yeah," Crystal said, taking a sip from her own drink as well. "I think they used less mud than usual this time. Say, you know what? I just saw the weirdest thing just now when I went for the drinks. You see that—" she turned around and crossed over to one side of the store’s front window, with Rain following. She pointed through the window to a large brown van parked diagonally across the street. "You see that van over there?"

Rain craned her neck forward and peered at the van. "Yeah…?"

"Do you see that woman sitting in it?"

"Just barely."

"Well, she gave me the weirdest look just now when I crossed the street. The whole time I was crossing, she was just watching me, real intent. I don’t know what the hell she was looking at."

"Maybe she knew you."

"I don’t think so. She didn’t look familiar to me." She took a drink from her mocha. "And when I got close to the van, she kind of shrunk down in her seat, like she didn’t want to be seen or something. And when I came back with the drinks a few minutes later, she was still there. Only now she seemed to watching this store."

"Hmm," Rain said, sipping her drink. "You know, now that you mention it, I think I remember seeing that van parked there this morning. It must’ve been sitting there all day."

"Who do you suppose it is? And why do you suppose they’d be watching this place?"

"I don’t know." She was silent for a few moments. "You don’t—" she hesitated. "You don’t suppose it’s, like, maybe a burglar or something, do you? Maybe they’re, like, you know, ‘casing the joint’ or something?"

"What, are you kidding?" Crystal almost laughed. "What’s in here to steal? Like there’s a really hot underground market for mood candles and incense?"

"Well, I don’t know, maybe it’s—"

"What are you two talking about?" Cat said, walking out from the back corner of the store.

"That van across the street there." Rain answered her. "See it? It’s been parked there all day, and whoever’s in the van seems to be scoping out this place."

Cat craned her neck and looked through the store window to where Rain was pointing. An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. She couldn’t be sure why…but she had the vague, unsettling feeling that there was something wrong about the van. "I can’t tell from here who that is at the wheel," she said. "Is that a man or a woman?"

"A woman," Crystal answered, sipping her drink.

The uneasy feeling grew within Cat. "So you got a good look at her. Could you describe her?" she asked.

"Well," Crystal began. "I really couldn’t see her that well; I only glimpsed her, and the windows of the van were tinted. But I think she had short, kinda blondish hair. Lighter than Rain’s, anyway; more like a platinum-blonde."

"Anything else?"

"Umm…it seems like she had kind of a round face, a little like Rain here. And she had these big, round sunglasses."

Cat looked out through the window again, as though lost in a trance. By now she had a very bad feeling about the strange van. A sudden thought occurred to her then, sending a jolt through her entire body, as though from an electric shock.

That van looked awfully damned familiar. It reminded her of something, something bad. Was it…? she wondered. Was it Nick’s? He drove a van…didn’t he? Or did he? Or did he drive a truck? Or a Jeep? Or an SUV? Cat couldn’t remember. She had a vague recollection of seeing a large, dark vehicle in the driveway of Norma’s house the other night, but she couldn’t remember if it was a van or not. Nor could she even remember what color it was. Under those streetlights, that night, it was hard to tell the color of any car; it would have been virtually impossible to tell if it was brown or not. For that matter, she wasn’t 100% sure she saw a second vehicle in the driveway that night.

Could that be Norma out there, waiting for her? Stalking her? Or was Cat just being paranoid? Ohhhh, why can’t people just leave me alone! she thought.

"What’s the matter?" Crystal asked, jolting Cat out of her thoughts. "You look like you’ve seen a ghost."

Cat glanced from Crystal to Rain; she could tell by the looks on their faces that they were genuinely concerned for her. Her immediate instinct was to deny it, to just slough off the growing panic she now felt. But, she realized, these were her friends. They cared about her, she knew, she could trust them and confide in them. She decided to do just that.

"I think," she began, hesitantly. "I don’t know, but I think… I might know that person out there. And—" she hesitated, then dropped her voice. "Can I be completely candid with you guys? I can, can’t I? Well…" she paused. "To tell you the truth, she’s been stalking me. She—" another hesitation, followed by a sob. "She’s been victimizing me."

Crystal’s and Rain’s faces both immediately fell, indicating the disbelief they registered at Cat’s revelation. Cat went on.

"It’s true! See?" she rolled up her sleeve, displaying the nearly-healed scratches and bruises on her arm. Crystal and Rain each drew a sharp intake of breath when they saw Cat’s injuries. "And I’ll tell you something else," Cat dropped her voice down to a whisper. "She damned near blinded me the other night."

Crystal gasped and Rain uttered a soft "Oh, my Gawd!" When the initial shock subsided, it was Crystal who spoke first.

"Does this…" she hesitated. "Does this have anything to do with…with…" she couldn’t say it. "With those issues you were talking about the other day?"

Cat couldn’t speak; but these were her friends, after all. They knew her so well, she couldn’t hide anything from them. So she merely nodded.

"You ought to call the cops on her!" Rain said. "Have her arrested! If she’s been stalking you, you oughta throw her butt in jail!"

"Well I don’t know if that’s her out there; I just think it might be."

A silence followed. Then Crystal spoke. "Well, what should we do then?" she asked.

"Well, first I need to know for sure whether or not it’s who I think it is out there. Could I…?" she hesitated. "Could I ask a really big favor of you guys?"

"Of course, name it." Crystal said, to which Rain nodded.

"Could one of you go out there and take another look at her, a close look and, if possible, try to describe her in more detail to me?" She looked from Crystal to Rain. "Could you at least try?" she said when she saw their blank faces.

"All right," Rain said at last. "I’ll go. Whoever that is out there, she’s already seen Crystal; if she sees her again, she might get suspicious. I’ll go out the back way, circle around the block and come up from behind. I can even write down the license number if you want."

She left the shop through the back door. Crystal gently rubbed Cat’s back, trying to calm her down. "It’s okay," she said. "It’s all right; you’re safe now. Nobody’s going to hurt you; we won’t let them!"

* * *

Norma was getting nervous. It was getting late, and still no word from either Greg or Nick. What the hell are they doing all this time? she thought. Apparently, they had run into some problems, but Norma didn’t even want to think about what those problems might be. She only hoped that Nick and Greg didn’t get caught.

She resisted the urge to call Greg again to see how he was doing. The last time she did, the phone nearly melted and Greg almost took her head off. No, he told her, he still hadn’t found the stuff yet; yes, he was looking for it; yes, he was looking careful. Although he only spoke in hushed tones, there was no mistaking the panicked tension in his voice. Norma knew then that things were not quite working out according to the plan. She sighed, trying not to remain calm herself. There’s still time, she thought. He’ll find it…he’s got to…he felt so confident the other day that he would…and he can! I know he can! He just needs some more time…

Just then, Norma’s attention was distracted by a movement in the corner of her eye. She glanced over to see a chubby young woman standing on the sidewalk, staring at her. Norma returned the woman’s gaze for a second or two, then returned her gaze to the shop window. The red-haired woman inside the shop seemed to have disappeared. Dammit! Norma thought. She was there a moment ago! Where the hell did she go? She whispered a curse for allowing herself to be distracted. Okay…okay, calm down…she probably just went in the back of the store for a moment or two…

Out of the corner of her eye, Norma could see that the chubby young woman was still standing there and still staring at her. Norma glanced over at her again. What the hell is she gaping at? Norma wondered. The staring contest went on for so long that Norma almost felt tempted to step out of the van and ask the strange woman just what the hell her problem was, when she suddenly turned and walked away. Jeez, the nut-cakes around here! Norma thought, turning her attention back to the store.

* * *

"So, did you get a good look at her?" Cat asked Rain when she returned.

"Yeah, I even got the license plate number. You want it?"

"Thanks, but it won’t do me any good. I don’t know this person’s license number. Tell me what the driver looked like."

"Well, like Crystal said, she had short, blonde hair. Kind of a blunt cut, you know; not like mine, but like a bob or a pageboy cut."

"Anything else?"

"Well, like Crystal said, she had these big, round sunglasses on, you know, the kind that come out to here?" She indicated circular motions on her own face with her fingers. "And she had kind of a dumb round face, with full cheeks. And…umm…kind of a little button nose."

"Did it kind of turn up? Like this?" Cat lightly lifted the tip of her own nose.

"Uh, yeah…a little bit, I think. ‘Course I couldn’t really see it that well. I think I made her a little nervous, too. She started acting, like, real suspicious."

"Did you notice anything else?"

"Mmmm, no…no, that’s all I can think of…No, wait, there was something else! I think she had kind of a scar or something on one side of her face. I thought I saw what looked like swelling and a kind of a jagged thing, like a cut or scratch maybe, coming out from under the sunglasses."

"Where?!? Exactly Where?!?" Cat nearly screamed the question, causing her co-workers to jump.

"Right here," Rain indicated an area on her own cheek. Cat immediately blanched, and the other two steadied her as though she were about to faint.

"My God," Cat said. "It is her! That is the one who’s been stalking me!"

"We’d better call the police!" Crystal said, turning to the counter and reaching for the phone.

"No!! Wait!" Cat said, bringing her hand down on the receiver. "This is a personal thing!" The color soon returned to Cat’s cheeks, her jaw tightened, and her eyes narrowed. "I want to take care of this myself!" She looked around the little shop, and looked behind the counter. "Where’s ‘Louie?’" she asked.

"Oh, he’s uh—he’s over there, in the corner." Rain answered, pointing. "I moved him out of the way when I was cleaning up earlier."

"Okay, thanks," Cat said, as she turned and picked up the baseball bat leaning in the corner. She hefted it a couple of times, and then turned and walked out the door and across the street.

* * *

Oh, shit! Norma sat bolt upright when she saw the red-haired woman approaching her, wielding a baseball bat. Jeezis, she’s on to me! I’m getting the hell out of here!

She started the engine, gunning it. She dropped it into gear and floored the gas pedal. The engine immediately died. She tried to restart it, but the engine died again. She tried once more, but without result; she had apparently flooded it. The red-haired woman came closer. The look of cold fury on her face was like something Norma had only seen in her nightmares. She tried one more time to start the engine. It finally caught just as the red-haired woman was within striking distance of the van. The woman swung the bat at the windshield…

…And narrowly missed, as Norma threw the van into reverse, backing up and away from the curb and into the street. Gears crunched loudly, the clutch screamed in protest as Norma threw it into first and floored the gas pedal again. The red-haired woman swung the bat a second time, and this time connected with the side of the van as it sped past her, sounding out a loud, sickening BANG that reverberated down into Norma’s bones. As she sped madly down the street, she faintly heard a string of shouted curses and oaths receding in the distance behind her.

She took a quick right turn at the next corner, nearly rolling the van, and pulled up behind a liquor store, parked and immediately started dialing on her cell phone.

* * *

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, slow down! Slow down!" Nick nearly shouted into the tiny phone he held in his massive hand. "What do you mean she’s on to you? Well, how do you know? She what?!? Are you serious?!? Oh, my God… Well, did she do any damage? No, I mean to the van! She what?!? Oh, no…no…no…!" Nick’s voice broke, as he was momentarily speechless. "What?" he said, stirred from his silence. "Well, of course I’m worried about you too! Well, you’re not hurt, are you? Well are you? Well, all right then!"

He took a deep breath. "Well, what the hell did you do? Well, you must have done something to make her suspicious! You didn’t—You didn’t take off your disguise, did you? Well, because it would be just like you if you did!"

He paused, listening. "No. No, I’ll call him. I’ll call him and tell him to get his butt the hell out of there, now! What? No, don’t call the police; not yet! Wait ‘til we get the hell out of here first, and then you can call them." Nick paused briefly to take a breath, trying to calm down and think clearly again. "Okay…" he began again. Okay… Now where are you calling from right now? Can you see the store from there? Well, can you see that cruddy orange Volkswagen of hers parked anywhere? Okay, good. Stay there; just stay where you are & keep your eyes open. Don’t take your eyes off that Volkswagen; if you see her get in it and drive away, call me immediately!"

He paused again, and took another deep breath. "No…no, it’s all right. No, I’m sorry… No, really, it’s just… Okay. All right. I’ll call you back when we’re out of here. Okay. Talk to you later. ‘Bye." He hung up and immediately started dialing the number to Greg’s cell phone.

No question about it, he thought. This plan is definitely turning sour…!

* * *

Greg was in the process of going through the mountain of boxes, bags, cases and other assorted containers that a short while earlier had been stored snugly within Cat’s closet. Looking at the enormous pile, Greg couldn’t understand how so much stuff had ever fit into so small a place as the closet in the first place. It would take forever to get all this junk put back, he knew. But…on the other hand, he thought, as long as the stuff was out anyway, he might as well look through it… He hurriedly opened the bags and boxes, one by one, looking through each one as he placed them back in the closet…

He was just picking up Cat’s overnight bag when the cell phone in his pocket rang for the umpteenth time, the sound of which still made him jump when he heard it. "What?!?" he half-whispered, half-screamed into the mouthpiece. "I’m still looking, all right? I’m look—" He stopped midsentence. "WHAT?!?" he cried. "Oh, jeez!" "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! I just knew this wasn’t going to work, I knew it! Oh, God… Well, is she all right? Oh, thank God…"

He paused, as though dreading to ask the next question. "So where is…" he hesitated. "Where is she now?" There was no way to conceal the disgust in his voice when he uttered the feminine pronoun. "No, Cat! So she didn’t follow her then? She’s still there?" He breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. Maybe I’ve still got time. Well yes, I know that! I’m not saying that, I’m saying maybe I’ve got time to put at least some of this crap away! Well, okay! All right!" He paused again. "Well, I don’t know…maybe we can try it again some other time. Maybe we can work out another plan, maybe we can do something else, I don’t know what! Look, we can worry about that later, all right? Okay, ‘bye." He quickly hung up the phone.

God, this is a nightmare! Greg thought, as he stuffed the phone back into his pocket and hurriedly tried to return the mountain of boxes to the closet, a task that seemed akin to putting toothpaste back in the tube. This is unreal! he thought. Like something out of a lousy movie!

* * *

"Did you see that?" Crystal said, her jaw slackened.

Rain feebly shook her head. "I don’t…" she began. Then: "What did you see?"

"I swear, I think I saw Cat take a swing at that van!"

"Jeezis…" Rain whispered. "That’s what I saw too. Why the hell did she—"

"She must’ve been acting in self-defense. Yeah…yeah that’s it. That woman in the van must’ve had a knife or something, and Cat was just defending herself!"

Rain shook her head. "It didn’t look that way to me! It looked to me like—"

"No, that’s gotta be it!" Crystal interrupted. "I mean, Cat wouldn’t just lash out at someone like that for no reason…would she?"

Rain had no time to answer, for she said: "Look out, she’s coming back! We’d better get away from the window. She might get pissed if she sees us watching her." They both stepped back from the window and scurried away behind the safety of the counter.

"Now listen, don’t say anything!" Crystal said. "About what we just saw with the bat; just don’t say anything about it!"

"I know, I know, all right?"

The little bell over the door jingled as Cat stepped inside. She strode over to the counter, with a curious, twisted smile on her face. She carefully placed the bat underneath the counter, then turned to face her two co-workers, who now stared at her with ashen faces. What’s with them? Cat wondered.

"So, um—" Crystal began, hesitantly. "Did-did you get a chance to talk to her?"

"Did you see her?" Rain asked, immediately after.

Cat shook her head. "No…no, I guess the big coward got scared; she took off before I had a chance to say anything to her! But I’m about 99 % sure it was who I think it was! I’d bet anything!"

"Well," Rain said, trying to put a positive spin on the situation. "She’s gone now. She won’t bother you anymore, that’s for sure."

Cat shook her head again. "No, no, I wouldn’t count on that. She may be gone, but that doesn’t mean this is over. Not by a long shot. She’ll be back. And probably with all her friends! They’ll probably be waiting on me somewhere…just waiting to stomp my ass!"

"But maybe—"

"Look, you don’t understand!" Cat cried, in near-panic. "You don’t know this woman! She’s a nut, a freako maniac! She doesn’t give up and she doesn’t let go! She’ll never let this go by, not in a million years! She’ll be back, you can count on that… Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! What am I gonna do?" She then fell silent and remained so for a long time, pondering the situation.

Rain finally broke the silence. "Well, maybe you shouldn’t have—" she began.

"So what are you going to do?" Crystal asked, interrupting her.

"Well," Cat began. "There is something I can do… Never mind what. But I’m going to need you guys’ help to do it, okay?"

Cat and Rain remained silent. They had never seen Cat get into quite this state of agitation. They’d seen her angry, they’d seen her obsessed and driven, but they’d never seen her like this before.

"Okay?!?" Cat repeated, in a tone that indicated she damned well expected an answer and fast.

"Okay, okay," Rain and Crystal responded, timidly. "But what are you going to do?" Crystal asked again. Cat shot her a quick look, and she rephrased the question. "I mean, what do you want us to do?"

"Well…I need to get something from home—"

"What do you need?"

"Just…something…something I don’t have with me. Never mind what. I didn’t think I’d need it today, so I didn’t bring it with me this morning. Dammit, I feel so stupid now! But look, I need to go home and get it, and I don’t want to be seen leaving here. I think that…that person might be waiting out there for me somewhere. With a loaded gun or something, probably. So I want one of you to give me a ride. Okay? Crystal, did you drive today?"

"Um—no, not today, I took the—"

"Rain, did you drive today?"

"Yes, I’m parked out—"

"You still drive that yellow pickup, right?"

"Well yeah, but look, I don’t think I ought to get mixed up in—"

"Look, you’ll be perfectly safe! She doesn’t know you; I’m the one she’s after! Now, will you drive me?"

"Well, I—"

"Will you?!?"

"Okay…good…good." Cat said, dropping her voice to a near-mutter, as though thinking out loud. "Here’s what we’ll do. You go out, get your truck and bring it around here to the back door, pick me up and drive me home. I’ll sort of scrunch down low in the seat, so that if she is around here somewhere, she won’t see me. Okay? All right. Let’s go. Crystal, you watch the shop while we’re gone." Cat turned and headed for the back door, while Rain exited out the front. Cat stopped abruptly in her tracks and turned back to face Crystal.

"Um—" she began, and for a moment, Crystal thought she saw that same curious, twisted smile on Cat’s face. "This may take a while," Cat said. "And it’s—what, close to three now anyway, right? Yeah, so I’ll take the rest of the day off & see you guys tomorrow, all right?"

"All right," Crystal answered. Cat turned and walked out the back door.

"And good luck," Crystal said quietly, after she had left.

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