Chapter 6

The rest of the team arrived and introductions were done. Max then began to hand out the parts that everyone would be playing. Bug was assigned to play the lead role of Carl Travis. As Max said the name when he handed Bug the file, he noticed his sister's fiancé stiffen.

Max tried to hand AJ the folder for Chuck Trask, a local businessman. When AJ failed to notice, Lily lightly touched his hand in concern, "Are you ok?"

Meredith reached across and drug AJ's hand away from Lily with a suspicious look. "What is it, darling?"

This seemed to bring AJ back to the present. "Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about all the wedding plans."

"Oh, AJ," she sighed with a dreamy look on her face.

"Thinking about all the people out of the past you'll need to locate to invite I suppose," added Max looking AJ right in the eyes.

AJ knowing Max was on to him simply nodded, "Yeah, but we can talk about all that later."

Jordan was given the part of LaVon Travis, Carl's wife.

With a grin Max handed Meredith the file of Tuyen Travis. She opened it to find that she had been assigned the role of a seven year old! "MAX!"

"What Merry?" he said with a smirk.

"I am NOT a seven year old!" she exclaimed stomping her foot.

AJ had to cover his laugh with a cough as he remembered her going to get her "wings" on the plane.

"But Merry, you're my LITTLE sister, I have to give you that part."

"Max… Isn't there some other part I could play?"

"Well, I could have given you the psycho-killer-bad-guy part," he said as he handed Nigel a file, "but you're much too pretty for that".

At the same time as Meredith sighed and said "Oh, Max." Nigel indignantly shouted "But Jordan promised me I didn't have to be the psycho-killer-bad-guy this time! And I suppose he's ugly too!"

Max grinned, "No Nigel, Ralph Franks was an arresting man. He was also the construction foreman working for Chuck Trask.

"He better not turn out to be the psycho-killer-bad-guy!" grumbled Nigel.

Max smiled as he gave Lily her file, "You're Clara Rose, owner of the Bay Street Psychedelic Shoppe."

Lily giggled and asked, "Does that mean that I run a Head Shop?"

Garret looked at her with a skeptical gleam, "How would you know about head shops?"

She just smiled at him and would not answer. So, Max went on to tell Woody, he would play the up and coming, handsome, young detective who investigated the original disappearance of Carl.

Woody sighed, "Type cast again!" and grinned, "So, what's my name?" he asked as Max handed him the file.

"Max Cavanaugh," he said in a self-aggrandizing way, which got a laugh from everyone at the table.

Handing Garret Macy a file folder, Max told him, "You will be my older seasoned partner, Steve Jenkins."

Garret kidded, "Type cast again!" and everyone laughed.

"Ok every one, here is what we have on this case. Actually we are working on two cases that I always thought were related, but could never prove. We have the missing person case of one, Carl Travis," Max was looking right at AJ when he said the name. However, this time AJ was ready for it and showed no reaction at all, so Max continued, "And a report of a shooting from a Miss Clara Rose, that could never be confirmed because we never found a body. The year was 1979 and we begin with a phone call to the precinct from Miss Rose….."

"I knew that name sounded familiar!" Woody exclaimed, "I answered a call from her just last week! She is one wacky lady!"

"Is that wacky on the Wisconsin or the Boston Wacky Meter?" Jordan asked with a shit-eating grin.

Woody just grunted at her, as Lily jumped in and said, "Now you know that everyone should be given the benefit of the doubt!"

"So says the person playing the wacky lady!" Bug teased her.

Lily sighed as if accepting of her lot in life.

To be continued….