Amelia followed Gilbert's car carefully, keeping her distance and doing her best to always keep a car between him and her whenever possible.

"You're way too good at this," Madeline noted. "Have you done this before?"

Amelia laughed. "I wish. I just watch a lot of 'undercover cop' stuff on tv. You really can learn some stuff from those."

"I'm sure you can," Madeline responded, although she didn't seem entirely convinced..

"I think he's heading home, Amelia," Madeline said as he turned into a subdivision she recognized up ahead. "We can't very well follow him into his garage."

"Hmm... You're probably right," Amelia assented reluctantly. She passed the turn into the subdivision, no longer following Gil's path. Amelia frowned deeply and furrowed her brow then suddenly snapped her fingers.

"Wait a minute! Isn't there a park right behind Gil's house? Like practically in his backyard?"

"Yeah, so? Would you mind elucidating a bit?"

"Nope!" She turned suddenly into a small street that led back towards the subdivision. "You'll see when we get there." Amelia was smiling from ear to ear now, her new idea clearly engendering giddy eagerness.

"Are you really not going to tell me?"

Her friend didn't respond; she only giggled.

If I had a nickel every time she answered a question with a giggle, Madeline thought as she was forced to once more, sit in the passenger seat and not question Amelia's ridiculous antics.

The duo soon found themselves in the small lot beside the park. Amelia parked the car, turned off the ignition and turned to her friend.

"So here's the plan: we're gonna find the biggest tree that's closest to Gil's house and spy on him from there."

"O...Kay. I still don't see why you're so excited about this."

"Because I finally get to use these!" She reached over to open the glove box and pulled out a pair of sleek black binoculars.

"You keep binoculars in your glove box?!"

"My brother got them for me a few weeks ago. Aren't they sweet?!" She Looked through them and adjusted the lenses. "I've been waiting for a real reason to use them and now's my chance! C'mon, let's go!" Amelia hung her new ocular device around her neck, jumped out of the car and began running towards a large tree near the edge of the park.

Madeline calmly got out of the car and followed her friend at a slow walk. She glanced around. The park was small and empty. No one would bother them or question what they were doing. They wouldn't be getting into any trouble, at least for now.

Amelia, being the boundless ball of energy she was, got to the tree and instantly began to scale it. By the time Madeline sauntered over, her friend was already at the top and fiddling with her binoculars.

"Do I have to climb up too?" Madeline asked.

"Nah, it's fine," Amelia said, having figured out her binoculars and now looking towards Gil's house. "How about I tell you what's going on and you be look-out?"

Honestly, why do I play along with all of this? But before Madeline could put much more thought into it, Amelia began to expound her observations.

"I see him! He's heading towards the living room. And... he's just sitting there. Like he's waiting for something. He looks kinda nervous. Wait he just stood up suddenly; maybe the doorbell rang? He's heading back towards the front door but I can't see if someone is there because of the way the hallway bends. Yeah, he's completely out of sight now. I guess we hang tight for a bit. Wait he's coming back down the hall with someone. A tall lady with real short blondish hair and light blue overalls. They're just talking. I can't read their expressions but it seems kinda formal. Like she's just telling him some info. And now she's leaving. Wow, that was short. He's heading for the stairs and now I can't see him anymore. But there's a shadow in one of the rooms upstairs so I guess he's in his room with the curtains drawn."

Amelia looked down at Madeline who was leaning against the trunk of the tree. "I thinks that's about as interesting as it'll get." She lowered herself from the tree with various monkey-like maneuvers and dusted herself off once she got down, taking extra time to polish her newest toy with her sleeve. "What do you think that was about?"

Madeline tried to piece together everything they had seen. "A text that freaked him out, a lady we don't know, a 'formal' exchange of information..."

"And don't forget what started all of this. His reasonless breakup."

All these pieces just didn't add up. Madeline began to get an uneasy feeling. "Amelia, I don't think we should snoop around anymore. Whatever this is I'm sure Gilbert doesn't want us to be a part of it. Let's just let it go."

Amelia seemed like she was gonna object but then sensed her friend's discomfort. "Okay," she said, in a much gentler and controlled tone than usual. "Let's go home."

Gilbert couldn't focus. After Kat had left he tried to just go to his room and work, but he was just too anxious. Any second now Ivan would call and tell him something he didn't want to hear. He would tell him that he needed another favor, or another helper. Ivan would tell him that he needed more money from him, money that Gil didn't have.

Damn it! For years Gil had been working to pay this debt. Why then, why damn it, was it still around?!

RRRRRRRRING!

Gil jumped at the sound of the long dreaded phone call. He took a deep breath before answering.

"Hello?"

"Da, Gilbert. I take it you know who this is?"

"Yes, Ivan." He hated the name. It chilled his blood just to think it, much less say it out loud.

"You realize you owe me quite a lot and have been paying it off slowly over the years?"

"I realize that," Gilbert acceded.

"Well then, you'll be happy to hear I will no longer need any favors from you."

Gilbert's heart fluttered. Was he really free?

"Instead I've decided I want your debt paid in full by the end of the month." Gilbert froze. "Thank you. That's is all."

And the line went dead.