I hope you all enjoy this. I will finish Artie's Rules, or at least keep posting chapters. Please read and review. Constructive criticism is welcome. Flames will be used to warm my cat, Poly Pi.

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The New Girl

Artie sat at his desk. Claudia was out with Pete and Myka helping them, he hoped. She had the same habit Pete did of playing with dangerous artifacts. He snorted. She was going to get herself killed some day. He hoped not, he had spent a lot of time training her, and he didn't want to do it again. Artie looked up from what he was doing and turned around. Mrs. Frederic was standing behind him, and she wasn't alone. That got him standing. She was beautiful! It took Artie a moment before he realized he was staring.

"Miss Dinah Barnum, this is Special Agent Arthur Nielsen.

Artie stuck a hand out and she didn't seem to notice, just looked at it. He pulled it back and wiped it on his pants. He picked up the plate of cookies and held it out.

"Oatmeal cookie?"

She looked at the plate, then back at him. The smile she gave was frozen, as if she didn't know quite how to smile.

"No thank you." She said after a minute.

Artie wondered for a moment if he knew her. He wasn't able to think about it because Mrs. Frederic interrupted him.

"Well, I must go. Give her the full tour Artie. I will check on how she is doing later."

Artie watched as she left. He had a thought in the back of his mind that he needed to run after Mrs. Frederic and have her stay. He didn't feel safe with this woman, no matter how pretty she is. He shook the feeling off. Mrs. Frederic wouldn't do anything to put him in danger. She stood next to his desk, her coat draped over one arm.

"Come and I will show you around."

He walked towards the door heading into the Warehouse. She set her things down and followed him. He held the door for her to go through, she did so. They stood on the walkway just outside the office. Artie directed her down the stairs. By the time they made it down, the feeling Artie had had before was growing stronger. He even considered calling for someone else to, Pete, Myka or even Claudia to come and do the tour with the two of them. He called himself all kinds of silly, but couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't quite safe. He wasn't originally going to use the car, but figured that he didn't want to scare off the new person by making her walk all over the Warehouse. He handed her the vest and hard hat. She stared at him good and long before putting them on and climbing in. She didn't speak through the entire tour. At the end, he stopped and she got off. She handed the vest and helmet back to him.

"Thank you," She said, "That was very enlightening. When do you need me to come in?"

Her constant stare made him nervous. "Eight. Make sure you eat before you come, and lunch will be served here. Any questions?"

She smiled. It just didn't seem right. "Not yet, but I might come up with some later." She climbed the stairs, with Artie close behind. She picked up her coat and bag. Artie escorted her to the door and watched as she disappeared up the steps. He breathed a sigh of relief and sat down at his computer. He wanted to do a little research and find out a little more about the new person.

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Artie looked up as the door opened. It was Pete. Artie looked behind him before turning back to the computer.

"Hey Artie!"

Artie wiggled a couple of fingers over his shoulder at Pete and went back to typing.

"You meet the new person? She is creepy, almost as bad as Mrs. Frederic." When Artie didn't respond, Pete tried again. "Artie, you all right man?"

Now Artie looked at Pete. "Yeah, I was just looking up Dinah Barnum. I swear I know her. I just don't know where from. She looks so familiar."

Pete looked over Artie's shoulder. Artie had at least a dozen searches going. "Have you found anything?"

Artie growled. "Not a whole lot." He handed a paper to Pete. "That is all that I have found on her."

Pete looked at the paper. On it was the schools she had attended, who her family was, and all of the places she had lived. "It looks like everything is in order."

Artie growled again. "It is too neat. Something is wrong."

Then Artie turned around. Mrs. Frederic was standing behind them. Pete turned and jumped. "Agent Lattimer, could you give Agent Nielsen and me a moment in private?"

Pete walked quickly out of the office and shut the door behind him. The moment after the door closed, Mrs. Frederic turned to Artie and smiled.

"Why are you looking into her background?" Mrs. Frederic stood looking at him, not quite staring.

"I don't know. She looks so familiar, like I have met her before." Artie looked up at Mrs. Frederic, waiting for her to respond. She didn't. She merely smiles, pats Artie on the shoulder and headed out.

Artie watched as the door closed. He breathed a sigh of relief, and called Pete back into the office. Pete looks into the office before stepping inside.

"She is one scary woman!" Pete looked at the door headed out, and shuddered again. Artie agreed, but didn't say anything. He handed a large manila envelope to Pete.

"Could you check into that for me?" Artie had a begging puppy look, so much so that Pete took the envelope.

"Sure Artie." He started to open the envelope, but Artie stopped him.

"Not here. I promised Mrs. Frederic that I wouldn't do this. If she found out that you were looking for me, she would want to talk to you about it."

Pete paled. He quickly stuffed the envelope into the waist of his pants and pulled his coat over it. "I will let you know what I find." He hurried out the door. Artie turned back to his computer and worked until the wee hours of the night.

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Artie woke to someone tapping him on the shoulder. He sat up and put his glasses back on. It was Dinah. He looked at his watch. It was eight am. Artie sighed and got up. She stood there watching him. He started pulling things off the shelves and piling them on the desk. Artie was annoyed, she stood and watched him get things down, and she didn't offer or help in anyway. When he was done, He waved at her to set her stuff down and follow him. She set her coat and purse on a chair and followed him out the door into the Warehouse.

They walked down the stairs and he pulled a scanner out of a bin. He reached into another bin and pulled out an apron. It had several pockets and Artie put a bottle of water and several granola bars into a pocket. He showed her how the inventory was to be done, and left her to it.

Artie headed back to his office. As he climbed the steps, the phone in his office began to ring. He raced up the rest of the steps and picked up the phone.

"Yes?" He was seriously out of breath.

"I finished checking on the information." It was Pete. He didn't sound upset to Artie, so the older man sat down.

"What did you find out?" Artie was eager, like a kid in a candy store with a pocket full of money.

"Well, her mother abandoned the family. She was found later, suicide. Her father is dead too, heart attack. No siblings or any family members that I could find, at least none alive."

"What was her father's job?"

Pete was silent for a moment. "He was a TV repair man. Her mother stayed at home."

Artie sat back in his chair. "Ok, thank you Pete."

"No problem Artie. Anything else?"

Artie sighed. "No. You had better come back before Mrs. Frederic finds out."

"Ok Artie. Will do."

Artie hung the phone and turned. When he saw someone standing in the door way he jumped. Dinah was looking at him.

"Did you need something?"

"This doesn't work." She held the scanner out to him. He took it. Artie checked it. It was on. He hit it against his hand, nothing. Then he hit it against the desk, still nothing. He threw it over his shoulder, and headed down to get another. He pulled several out of the bin.

"Follow me."

Artie walked down to where he had Dinah scanning, and used the scanner. This one didn't work either. So, he dropped it on the floor and pulled out another one. This one did work. He handed it to her. She took it and went back to work.

"Are you all right?"

She didn't respond. Artie took a step closer and repeated himself. Nothing. He touched her shoulder. She jumped and slapped Artie hard enough to leave a hand print on the side of his face. She looked horrified and pulled the ear buds out. Classical music poured out of the tiny speakers. Artie realized that she hadn't heard him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

He sat down and she looked worried. Artie took a moment to breathe. She had hit him hard. She stood over him, looking worried.

"I'm all right." Artie rubbed his face. "Come on. Let's go." He took her by the arm and pulled her towards the door to the office. She walked with him for a moment before she pulled away.

"Am I going to be fired?" Dinah looked worried.

"Because I scared you?" Artie looked closely at her. She looked away. He took her hand in his. "You won't be fired over that!" She still didn't look at Artie. He took her hand and walked her up to the office, and put her coat and purse in her hands.

"Why don't you take the rest of the day off? It will take me a while to fix the scanners, and we will need them."

She smiled at Artie. It seemed to him like a genuine smile, nothing put on. "Thanks. Same time tomorrow?"

Artie smiled back. "Yes. See you then."

Dinah took a couple of steps towards the door, then she turned. "Would you like some help?"

"Sure. I would like that."

She set her coat and purse back down. Artie picked up the scanners and the two of them walked over to a table on the other side of the room. He set the scanners on the table and pulled his tools out.

It took longer than Artie thought to get this done. He thought for a moment that he would have to wait for Claudia to come back. He stood over the scanner trying to figure out what was wrong. He turned at a sudden sound to see a knife sticking out of the floor behind him.

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Now that you have read this, please review. Who is she? Why does she seem familiar to Artie? Where did the knife come from? Answers to all this and much more.