-- T W E L V E -- Surprise --
Things will get interesting here, but in a different way! I'm sorry I kept everyone waiting, I've been waking up before the sun and have been busy with housework and plain ole work.
The three of us were sitting in my little kitchen, drinking soda and talking, when there was a knock on my door.
When I opened my door, I was handed a package, and before I was able to say anything, the guy left. I simply shrugged, and walked back into the kitchen, looking at the box I had received. There was only a typed label addressed to me, with no return address. I didn't understand why I was getting a package, all of my things were not due for another day or two, and none of the boxes I had packed were this small.
When I sat at the table, Uncle Cal & Tank looked at me, and then at the package.
"No return address.." Tank said rather thoughtfully. Uncle Cal seemed to pick up on whatever thought Tank had, and nodded.
"I don't get why this was delivered. Everyone I know in town is in this building, and everyone else that I know would put an address on there."
I didn't know why, but my hands were a little shaky as I started to open it. Silly and stupid me, I thought, It's just a package without a label.
When I finally got it open, I dropped the box on the table at what I saw. Inside was my toothbrush that I lost, and numerous pictures of me. There were pictures of me in my hotel room, pictures of me getting into my rental, pictures of me at Shorty's, and even pictures taken through my window here.
"Holy Shit... Holy Shit... Holy Shit!" I yelled, my voice going up an octave and getting louder each time, "What the hell is this? Why? Who? How? How did they get these fucking pictures of me in my hotel and here?!" I didn't draw a breath between the shouting and random questionings. I got dizzy, and felt myself falling, Shit, I thought, then there was nothing but blackness.
When I opened my eyes, I was laying flat on my back, with Tank leaning over me, and Uncle Cal on the phone.
"Yo, Cal, She's up, better get him down here anyways. He'll wanna see that shit." Tank said, and Uncle Cal let the person on the phone know. I assumed it was Carlos.
"Ugh.." I mumbled, "What the hell happened?" I said while sitting up, feeling a headache coming on. Christ it felt like someone punched me upside the head.
"You freaked and passed out kiddo. You knocked your head pretty good on the chair on your way down too." Tank said, Uncle Cal had finished his call and was looking at me. I could tell by the look on his face that he was worried.
"Oh, well, I'm fine now, I think. No need to worry." I tried standing up, but Tank put a hand on my shoulder, and shook his head no.
I sat back down, and heard my door open. Carlos came in, along with Bobby and Lester. Carlos motioned for Bobby to look over me, while he walked to my table and picked up the box.
I had never seen a man look so angry before. If looks could kill, Carlos's look would be the bomb that killed the whole planet.
Bobby looked up at Ranger and said I might have a small concussion.
He looked over at me and said, "I'd recommend that you take it easy, it's not a very big one, but you should play it safe."
My bony butt had long since started hurting from sitting on the tile, and I tried standing up one more time. Nearly everyone in the room rushed to help me up, but Uncle Cal and Carlos were the only ones who fully followed through. They walked me into the living room, and had me sit on the couch, while Bobby got me an ice pack, some Tylenol PM, and my soda.
"Thanks," I mumbled, my headache was full force by this time. I popped two Tylenol in my mouth, and took a gulp of my soda.
Uncle Cal sat down next to me on the couch, and Carlos sat on my wingback chair. I curled up against Uncle Cal, and he wrapped an arm around me. Carlos looked up at Bobby, Lester, and Tank, who looked like they didn't know what to do next.
"Take the package and see what you can figure out about it. If there are prints on any of the pictures or the toothbrush, run them. I want to know who this person is." The three men nodded at Carlos, Tank grabbed the box, and they left my apartment.
"Do you know who might have done this?" Uncle Cal said, while Carlos placed his elbows on the chair arms, and his head in his hands.
"No, I have no idea. Anyone who I know is either in this building, or wouldn't spy on me and steal my toothbrush." I said, starting to feel the Tylenol kicking in.
"Well, when did you loose your toothbrush?" Carlos asked, it must have been an odd question to ask, because how often do you care if your toothbrush is stolen?
"Uh, I noticed it was gone the day Uncle Cal and I went to my hotel room to pack my things."
"I'll see if Tank or Lester can get the tapes for the security cameras from the building."
"hrm, okay." I mumbled, and drifted off to sleep.
When I woke up, I was still in Uncle Cal's arms, and he was watching football on my TV. I saw that it was San Francisco versus Seattle, and wondered who was winning.
"So far, Seattle is winning." he replied.
"Good. Matt Hasselback is a hottie." I giggled and sat up. My head was a little sore still, but it was manageable. I heard some talking in my kitchen, and decided to go see what was up. I knew Carlos was in there, and was counting on him to give me some answers, if there were any to be told yet.
"Yo," I said groggily when I entered the room, "Any news yet?" I saw Carlos, Tank, and Bobby sitting at my kitchen table.
"We got the tapes from the floor you were staying on, and Lester is going over them. There were no prints on the pictures or your toothbrush, and we figured it would be a waste of time to look for any on the box," Carlos said, "How are you feeling?"
"Fine, my head isn't quite as sore. I'm just a little hungry." I rummaged around in my pantry, and pulled out some dried mango slices.
"Mangos? What are you, a parrot?" Tank joked.
"Do I copy what everyone says?" I asked, feeling up to joking around, "Do I have wings and a beak?" I smiled at him and giggled.
"No, I guess not." he said and laughed. Carlos and Bobby chuckled, and resumed talking about ways that someone could have gotten those pictures of me in the building.
"I would think it's an obvious answer, they found out what floor she was on, and went to the same level on the building across from us." Bobby said.
"True, but how did they know which floor she was on?" Carlos asked him, then looked up at me, "Have you gone through your purse and all of your things and noticed something that didn't belong?"
"Uh, no. I haven't been looking for anything. Should I check?" I asked, knowing that he thought a bug got planted on me somewhere.
"Yea, that would be a good idea," he replied thoughtfully, "Actually, give Bobby and Tank everything you had with you at the hotel. They can search through it and see if they can find any bugs. They can also check for prints on any if they find them."
"Okay." I said, and headed off to my room to grab my still unpacked travel bag and suitcase. My purse was already in the kitchen, and when I handed Tank and Bobby my things, they headed out.
"I'm going to have Cal stay with you for a while. Nobody has tried anything other than sending you that box, but I'd rather be safe than sorry." Carlos said, wrapping his arms around me and kissing the top of my head.
"Thanks," I said, putting my arms around his waist.
Okay, so please be patient with me as I write, because this whole story is based off of a dream I had. I'm adding stuff in, and taking things out, this taking a pretty long time, meaning the dream is becoming fuzzier and fuzzier. My muse just sits on my bed next to me and only gives me small crumbs now-a-days to write with. And I know putting Virginia in a sticky situation/possible harm is a little lame and trite, but come one, lol. I just HAD to add this into a story based of the Stephanie Plum novels.