They wanna make nice?

Today I tried really hard not to think about cops, crimes or superheroine stuff. Traci and I went to the outlet mall, and we had a blast. The Orgone family is not exactly wealthy, and I tend to be rough on clothes, so in general, I don’t spend a whole lot of time shopping, but Traci’s another story entirely. Her dad’s real generous, and she’s got a real knack for spending his money. By the time we got finished, I ended up with a pair of shoes and a swim suit but Traci had about eight bags, all full of some really fantabulous stuff. And we finished early because the sun came out again, and we figured we could still catch a couple of hours of rays. It wasn’t until we got home that anything really out of the ordinary happened.

Traci went down to the beach to go tell her brother we were back while I started to unload the car. I was just leaning over the trunk to get at the last bag way in the front when that Gonzales woman announced her presence.

“Nice ass, Daphne” she said, “but if its all the same to you, I’d rather be looking at your face while we talk.”

I banged my head on the trunk as I climbed out and turned to face Officer Gonzales, taking a good look at the woman. One of my online buds mentioned this morning that most cops don’t have access to satellite technology, so I had good reason to size her up.

Probably about forty, with black hair and slightly grey roots, she was a pretty attractive woman, and she’d probably been a real looker when she was younger. Now, even though she smoked (and it smelled like some really nasty brand too), and was facing what every (or at least most, I’m not sure how its gonna be for me) women face with age, she still was probably like in the top percent of women in looks for her age. Plus, although I doubt any normal person could tell, I could see the woman was in really good shape. Things sagged here and there underneath that boring but well tailored suit, but she obviously worked pretty hard at staying in shape. The shoes were like godawful though, and there were holes in her underwear. I don’t really know what cops dress like, but she definitely was on some kind of a budget.

“Officer … Gonzales?” I said, pulling briefly on the front of my shorts as I squinted at her in the sun.

“Yes, Daphne” she said, “that’s my name, although if you like, you can call me Sheila.” She smiled, and there was something really freaky about it.

“Uh, ok…” I said, “um, what can I do for you?”

Sheila smiled again, making me even more nervous and tugged at her hair before she answered.

“Not a thing, Daphne” she said still smiling. “I just came by to… forgive me, because, well, I don’t normally do this, but I came by to apologize for the way we questioned you yesterday. It’s a really strange case, and … well, I guess we were a bit uptight.”

I just looked at her for a moment, and she looked back, like she was expecting me to say something next. So I did, although I didn’t feel like it.

“Ok, I mean, its not like you arrested me or anything. No big deal.”

“Of course not, Daphne” she said, “we’d never arrest you for rescuing a stranded child. No matter how strange the circumstances. You know, I’ve got a niece your age. You sort of remind me of her, the way you talk.”

“I do?” I said trying to sound innocent. This was definitely weird the way this was going.

“Yes, you do, Daphne, and that’s a compliment. Most girls your age, well, they’re really stuck up on superficial stuff, but, well, I have a feeling you’ve got depth, Daphne, like there’s more to you than meets the eye.”

Ok, now I knew something freaky was going on, and I squirmed a bit, not sure what to say to that.

“We want to make it up to you Daphne, Frank and I. How about we take you and your little friend to dinner?”

“Dinner?” I said incredulously. “Like, why?”

“Daphne” Sheila said smiling. “Stop being so suspicious. I’ll lay it out for you. Frank’s a sucker for pretty girls and you qualify. He feels bad about the way we treated you, and in a way, so do I. What do you say?”

“I .. um…” I blurted out. But she cut me off.

“Talk to your friend, Daphne, and if you want, you can bring her brother along too. I’m coming by this way this afternoon anyway, so its no big deal.”

As Sheila left, I was really chewing on how weird this was, and grabbed the bags, trotting up into the house. I opened the door and as I passed the table behind the couch, I heard this really high pitched squeal. Stuff like that, its everywhere, sounds that other people can’t hear, coming from telephones, appliances and all kinds of things, and usually I just ignore it, along with a whole lot of other background noise. But for some reason, this time, I gave that telephone a real close look. Sure enough, taped to the underside of the phone was some kind of microchip type thingie, and that’s where the sound was coming from.

I’m no dummy. I knew it was a bug, and I’d been forced to sit through enough spy movies to know that squishing it would only let them know I was onto them. So, I’d let it be. But why was our house bugged? This was really not making much sense.

Damn, I wish Scott or Mendel was here. I got brawn in spades, and if you buy what guys say, beauty too, although I don’t really see that one nearly as much. But brains? I got left out of that department, and figuring stuff out is just not my cup of chai.

Drat…, here comes Traci. I’m gonna write later. Maybe I’ll fly back home and get some help later, but until then, I’m gonna have to wing it.

Daph