A/N: Another shortish one. Hope you like it! Of course, thanks to all my fabulous reviewers: keep it up!
The cab driver chuckled and drove away. Vanessa pulled out of the man's embrace, stumbling backwards as she wiped at her mouth with her arm. The man reached out and took her arms to steady her. "Whoa, sorry about that." he said in a low voice. "I didn't mean to scare you. I'm Chase Long."
"Oh." Vanessa said, embarrassed, as she looked up at the tall man in front of her. He was tall, a little taller than Joe, with sandy brown hair and bright green eyes. "Vanessa Bender." she said finally. She stuck her hand out and he shook it amusedly.
"That's my brother, Peter." Chase said, gesturing to a second man who was helping Nancy move the bags.
Peter was about the same height as his brother, with slightly longer, darker hair. He and Nancy left the bags on the sidewalk and approached Vanessa and Chase. "That's wasn't nice." he admonished his brother. As he talked, Vanessa noticed that under his tasteful wire-rimmed glasses, his eyes were a gorgeous shade of teal. "Don't worry, Chase doesn't sexually assault every girl he meets on the street."
"Only the really pretty ones." Chase said, winking at her.
Vanessa was flustered. "I... um..."
The brothers laughed. "It's okay, Vanessa, I'm just joking around. But I did think, under current circumstances, it would be best for us to act as much like couples as possible." Chase said.
"That's right." Peter added, smiling at Nancy. "After all, we did go to all the trouble of inventing a story about our loving girlfriends, straight from their freshman year at some obscure college halfway across the country..."
Nancy and Vanessa grinned at each other. Neither had expected the brains of an important technological breakthrough to be so charming and friendly.
"We thought we'd just take a walk." Chase said. "You know, get to know each other and talk about the case a bit. Central Park is nice because there's so many people around you rarely get noticed in the crowds."
"Plus no saboteur will make a move surrounded by dozens of people." Vanessa added.
"Or so we hope." Peter said.
Nancy nodded, but added, "What about our bags?" She gestured to the two medium-sized suitcases on the sidewalk.
"Oh," Peter said, looking a little embarrassed. "Jo will take care of it." As he spoke, an expensive-looking dark-colored car pulled into the spot the taxi had just vacated. "Speaking of..."
Vanessa started guiltily at the sound of her boyfriend's name, but she quickly realized who Peter was talking about. "A chauffeur?"
Chase nodded. "Sort of."
Both Nancy and Vanessa were surprised to see a girl step out of the driver's side of the car. "Hey, boys." she said cheerfully. She was pretty and slender, a little over five feet tall with shoulder-length brown hair and soulful chocolate eyes. She looked to be around 22 years old.
"Hey, Josie." Chase replied as she came around to the pavement. "Meet Nessa and Nancy. Girls, meet Josie Carpenter. She's a friend who just happens to work for us."
Josie smiled warmly at Vanessa as she extended her hand. "Nice to meet you, Nessa." Vanessa shook it, looking slightly amused by her new nickname. Josie shook with Nancy next, but Nancy noticed that her smile now looked forced, almost unhappy. Or was it a threatened look? Nancy wondered if she was being overly suspicious, but decided that she should keep an eye on Josie.
Josie spoke again. "I've heard all about you."
Surprised, Nancy cast a glance at Peter, who grinned. "Only the good things, I promise." Then, bending to whisper in her ear, he said, "We made some stuff up. She doesn't know you're detectives. We wanted to check with you before saying anything." He covered his actions with a quick kiss on the cheek.
Nancy blushed convincingly, as if he had whispered something intimate. "I hope so." she said, giving him a significant nod to let him know he'd done the right thing. Quickly changing the topic before Josie could ask any questions, she said, "What about you, Josie, do you go to school here?"
Josie nodded politely. "I'm in my third year at NYU. And it's pretty convenient, too. When I needed a job, my old pals Peter and Chase set me up."
"We were friends as kids." Peter explained. "Grew up together and all that."
Josie laughed. "And now I get paid to clean their apartment and take care of this baby." She patted the hood of the car fondly.
"Sweet gig." Vanessa commented.
"You got it." Josie replied. "And now I guess I'd better take care of these bags and get going, I'm sure you guys have... stuff to do." she said suggestively, winking at Chase. Vanessa blushed as Chase winked back.
"Here, I'll help you." Nancy offered, stooping to take one of the bags as Josie opened the trunk. "They're a little heavy."
"Don't." Josie said firmly as she took the bag from Nancy's hand. "I've got it." She took both bags at once and lifted them easily into the trunk. I guess she's more qualified than she looks, Nancy thought. She was mildly confused by Josie's tone of voice: it sounded almost like... a challenge. Before she could say anything else, Josie slammed the trunk shut and walked around to the driver's seat. "Your apartment?" she asked, gesturing to the bags in the trunk.
Peter nodded. "Yeah. And then you can get going. We'll find our own way home."
"Okay. Thanks." Josie said, getting into the car. "See you guys later."
"Thanks, Jose." Peter called as the car pulled away. Turning to Nancy, he offered her his arm. "And that, milady, is what about your bags. Shall we walk?"
Nancy tore her eyes away from the distancing car that held her first suspect. "Sure," she said, taking his arm and smiling. "Now what say you tell us a bit more about this case?"
A/N: I'll try to have the next update by Monday or Tuesday, but no guarantees... Please review!
