Author's Incoherent Babbling: Hello everybody! Hope you enjoyed the little cliffhanger from chapter one. Pay attention to the dates that I list. It goes back a week for a bit then goes back to the present time. To understand the joke about the muffins at the end you'll have to read my prequel to this fic, "Two's Company, Three's A Crowd" which will be out soon, hopefully. ^_^;
Pierson Industries 8:30am---Friday 10/11/03
Geoffrey Pierson sat behind his desk writing fiercely. The threats had been coming since the week before last. He glanced to this morning's paper which he had open to the obituary section
"Franklin Thompson dead at 39"
Frank had been a good friend, some how the enemy knew this so they used it to their advantage. The paper stated the death as a suicide but Geoffrey knew Frank had no reason to kill himself. Sure the divorce two years ago had been rough but Frank bounced back, he became a new man.
As his pen flew across the paper line after line Geoffrey looked to the metal safe box every five seconds just so he could reassure himself that it was still there. Once he finished this letter to his secretary, his son anyone who needed to know would know where he was going. He needed to leave before they got him like they did Frank so he decided to go to England where he would stay with a friend.
As he sealed the envelope one of the wooden doors to his office opened. He tensed for a moment until he looked up and saw his secretary. "Good Morning Mr. Pierson" she said in her warm and cheery voice. She walked over and put his cup of coffee on the coaster like she did so many times before.
"Ah, thanks Jane" Geoffrey said slipping the envelope under some papers. "You're here awfully early. Any reason why?"
Jane walked to the wooden door she had left ajar. She shut it quietly and turned around with a secretive smile. "Yes, actually..." She reached behind and pulled out a small silver pistol. "Give me the code." she said the smile completely slipped off her face.
"Jane..." Geoffrey said in disbelief. "You can kill me, you can get the code but you'll never decipher it. It would take someone smart to do that." he said putting his hand on the safe box as if that would protect it.
"Ouch, that hurt, but less than this will." Jane said before shooting him in the head. She lowered the gun and let it drop to the floor. Behind her the wooden door opened again and arms slipped around her from behind. "I did it...I kill him." she said faintly.
"Yes, you did. Good work Janey." the voice said soothingly. He let go of Jane wanting to get his hands on the gray safe box. He walked over and picked it up slowly as if it might be booby-trapped. He turned the small box over in his hands examining each detail. He snickered at the sight of the small lock, the type that would be on a diary of a little girl. This would be too easy. He glanced up at Jane who looked pailer than ever. He went over to Jane making sure to pick up the gun. He put one arm around Jane and led her out the room. "Good job Janey. All you have to do now is finish what you started."
Chateau Maramount 6:45am--Monday 10/14/03
Falling was the next feeling Dylan felt. She gasped as she hit the floor. Slowly she looked around recognizing the room in the dark to be her bedroom. She was safe and it had all turned out to be another haunting dream. Her skin was hot and clammy which made her bed sheets harder to pull off. Dylan finally stood and made her way to the window. After pushing at it the humidity finally gave away and the window opened. She looked outside at all the lights that were still on and the sky that was beginning to gain color.
After cooling down Dylan shut the window and looked to her clock. Just barely fifteen minutes until she would normally wake. I might as well get ahead start... she thought heading for the shower. By the time she was ready and down to her car she was already back on schedule. After lowering the top to her car and putting on her sunglasses she realized how great it felt to be back home. A week earlier she let it slip out how she had been having trouble sleeping with the recurring dreams and with Charlie always putting his Angels health first sent Dylan on a week long trip to Maui, Hawaii. Alex and Natalie reassured her not to worry and that they'd pick out a perfect temporary replacement.
Dylan entered the meeting room only to find it empty. Throwing her bag on one of the couches she walked around the room a bit seeing everything was the way it was before she had left. She nearly jumped five feet in the air when the phone rang. Going over to Basle's desk she pressed the button to turn on Charlie's new and improved speaker-box. "Good Morning Angels" Charlie beamed.
Dylan let out a yawn before answering. "Good Morning Charlie," Dylan went over to the couch and sat down. "It's just me here right now."
"Welcome back Dylan! Still having dream troubles?"
"Afraid so Charlie," Dylan said while leaning forward to grab a muffin off the table. She sniffed at it to make sure it wasn't one of Alex's creations. Once clear it was safe she unwrapped the paper lining and began to eat it.
A few moments later Natalie and Alex entered talking about something. They stopped dead in their tracks once they spotted Dylan on the couch eating her muffin. "Dylan!" Natalie exclaimed rushing over to give her a big hug. "You're finally back!"
Dylan looked to Alex who took a seat on the other side and shrugged. "I didn't know I was missed that much."
"Well you weren't" Alex said giving Dylan a look to show her she was only kidding. "But ever since we hired your replacement, Natalie couldn't wait for you to get home."
Dylan scrunched up the wrapper to the bottom of her muffin and shot it towards the waste basket barely missing it. "Speaking of my replacement," Dylan got up and threw away the wrapper properly. "How did they do?"
"Oh Dylan!" Natalie gushed. "They were great! We didn't have any big missions or anything but they were a big help."
Dylan slumped back on the couch and crossed her arms. "Too bad I won't get to meet them" she said half-heartedly.
"Oh but you will Dylan," Charlie said speaking up. "I told them to come in today to say goodbye and so that you could meet them."
In the hallway footsteps could be heard approaching towards the meeting room. "In fact, that's probably him now," Alex suggested. The door then opened and in walked Max and Bosley. "Oh" Alex said not even trying to hide her disappointment. "It's just Max and Basle."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Bosley shot back.
"Hey Alex...Natalie...Dylan...DYLAN!" Max rushed over and took a seat on the other side next to Dylan. "Welcome back, so did you bring me anything?" he said scanning around her to see if she might have had it out ready and waiting for him.
Dylan giggled at Max's hyperness at nine in the morning. "The only thing I brought back with me was a bad sunburn, sorry to disappoint you."
"Oh well that's okay," Max said looking around the room. "Hey did you meet your replacement yet?"
"No, all I've heard is that how great they are." Dylan said beginning to pick at another muffin. "So, what's their name?"
Max went to open his mouth but before he could get any sound out Natalie reached in front of Dylan and clamped her hand over Max's mouth. "We can't tell you, it's a surprise!" Natalie then pulled her hand away from Max's mouth as she squealed. "Ew! He licked my hand!" Max grinned and stuck his tongue out at her.
"Didn't you ever learn that trick when you were little?" Bosley asked. "I taught him that one myself."
"Yes, Uncle Bosley has been a positive role model for me" Max said proudly.
"If we hurry it might not be too late to save him," Alex said then ducking to avoid the pillow Basle threw at her.
"But your replacement taught me a lot too," Max picked a piece from Dylan's muffin and ate it before continuing. "He taught me how to pick a lock using a toothpick!"
Alex rolled her eyes. "That's amateur stuff, there are over a hundred other household items you can use to pick a lock. Bobby pin, coat hanger, nail-" Alex's eyes locked with Natalie and they broke into a huge grin as they heard the footsteps approaching.
"I'll be right back!" Natalie jumped from her seat and went out the door closing it behind her. Dylan sighed at all the big fuss towards the replacement. It was probably some FBI agent that she had never head of but would probably have to pretend to just so it wouldn't seem that the surprise was for nothing. Or maybe it was Charlie... From outside the room Dylan could hear Natalie talking to whoever it was. A few seconds later Natalie came back in and shut the door behind her but kept her hand on the knob. She gave a small giggle before continuing. "Okay...ready?" Dylan rolled her eyes and nodded. Natalie grinned and pulled the door open towards her. "Ta-da!"
Dylan wondered what the heck kind of joke they were trying to pull seeing no one standing there but then The Thin Man walked into the door way with an almost embarrassed look on his face not seeing why it was such a big deal. Everyone else looked to Dylan to see her expression. Her eyes grew wide and a look of shock mixed with confusion took form on her face.
"Yay!" Natalie giggled and began to jump up and down. "She's surprised!"
"Yeah I'd say so," Max said leaning to look at Dylan's expression more clearly then began waving his hand in front of her face.
Alex patted the spot next to her. "Come in, sit down. I'm sure Dylan has tons of questions." she said with a secretive smile. Before last week The Thin Man would have rather fed himself to sharks than to sit next to her but they eventually had work out their differences to be a good team.
Dylan snapped from her shock at the mention of her name. "Huh, oh yeah..." she said slowly wondering what there was to ask. "Well, what kind of stuff did you do last week?"
Natalie ran over to the couch and nudged The Thin Man closer to Alex so she could sit. "Ohh! Monday we had to switch a counterfeit jewel with the real one, and there was this little old lady. She was sooo cute! And she made us cookies which were really good too!" she said with her speech getting faster as she talked.
Charlie cleared his throat. "Natalie, relax there will be plenty of time to tell Dylan that later. Right now Angels we have a new case. Monday morning Geoffrey Pierson was found murdered in his office. The secretary who found him said that he was dead when she went in to give him coffee. Mr. Pierson's son Ian, discovered a letter he had written saying he had been planning to go to England because of some threats to get the code he had been working on."
"Wait," Alex said. "Is this the same Pierson of Pierson Online?"
"Right on the ball Alex, Pierson had been working on a special top secret code for the U.S. Government on the side. Ian knew it was kept in a small silver box but found when he search his father's office it was no where to be found. Ian hired you us to find the box and get it safely returned."
"Easier said than done," Dylan said tossing her leftover muffin on the table. She had lost her appetite since the surprise was sprung on her. "Do we have any leads?"
"Ian said he believes it was his Father's rival. Jeff Kenley. Mr. Pierson had beaten him out of getting the job from the government. I already looked into it and Mr. Kenley is having a costume party for Halloween."
"A little early for Halloween," Max added.
"I've already managed to get an invitation for you guys," Charlie continued. "The way I see it is two of you girls can be Bosley's date and-"
Bosley's eye grew wide at the mention of his name. "Ohhh no! I'm not going to be their date again. Last time you guys almost me killed! Besides, I've got to watch Max tonight. Mama's got her bingo club."
"Ohh Bos!" Natalie half whined. "If you won't take us, who will?"
"I don't know," Bosley said covering Max's mouth who was trying to volunteer himself. After pulling his hand away suddenly he glanced at The Thin Man who looked as if he hadn't been paying much attention to what was going on. "Why not him?"
Alex seemed to think it over a minute then grinned. "That's a perfect idea Bosley!" The Thin Man who as Bosley guessed had been not paying attention wondered why they were talking about him. "If you have any objections just say something." Alex said to him. The Thin Man looked around perplexed as to what she was talking about.
"Then it's settled," Charlie said. "Thin Man, you'll escort Alex and Dylan to the costume party."
The Thin Man's eye widened as he heard what Charlie just said and began shaking his head no and pulling his index finger across his throat. Natalie grinned and patted The Thin Man's knee as she understood what he was so worried about. "No it's okay. Alex didn't make those muffins." Letting out a defeated sigh he gave up trying to change anything. It couldn't really be as bad as Bosley made it sound...could it?
Pierson Industries 8:30am---Friday 10/11/03
Geoffrey Pierson sat behind his desk writing fiercely. The threats had been coming since the week before last. He glanced to this morning's paper which he had open to the obituary section
"Franklin Thompson dead at 39"
Frank had been a good friend, some how the enemy knew this so they used it to their advantage. The paper stated the death as a suicide but Geoffrey knew Frank had no reason to kill himself. Sure the divorce two years ago had been rough but Frank bounced back, he became a new man.
As his pen flew across the paper line after line Geoffrey looked to the metal safe box every five seconds just so he could reassure himself that it was still there. Once he finished this letter to his secretary, his son anyone who needed to know would know where he was going. He needed to leave before they got him like they did Frank so he decided to go to England where he would stay with a friend.
As he sealed the envelope one of the wooden doors to his office opened. He tensed for a moment until he looked up and saw his secretary. "Good Morning Mr. Pierson" she said in her warm and cheery voice. She walked over and put his cup of coffee on the coaster like she did so many times before.
"Ah, thanks Jane" Geoffrey said slipping the envelope under some papers. "You're here awfully early. Any reason why?"
Jane walked to the wooden door she had left ajar. She shut it quietly and turned around with a secretive smile. "Yes, actually..." She reached behind and pulled out a small silver pistol. "Give me the code." she said the smile completely slipped off her face.
"Jane..." Geoffrey said in disbelief. "You can kill me, you can get the code but you'll never decipher it. It would take someone smart to do that." he said putting his hand on the safe box as if that would protect it.
"Ouch, that hurt, but less than this will." Jane said before shooting him in the head. She lowered the gun and let it drop to the floor. Behind her the wooden door opened again and arms slipped around her from behind. "I did it...I kill him." she said faintly.
"Yes, you did. Good work Janey." the voice said soothingly. He let go of Jane wanting to get his hands on the gray safe box. He walked over and picked it up slowly as if it might be booby-trapped. He turned the small box over in his hands examining each detail. He snickered at the sight of the small lock, the type that would be on a diary of a little girl. This would be too easy. He glanced up at Jane who looked pailer than ever. He went over to Jane making sure to pick up the gun. He put one arm around Jane and led her out the room. "Good job Janey. All you have to do now is finish what you started."
Chateau Maramount 6:45am--Monday 10/14/03
Falling was the next feeling Dylan felt. She gasped as she hit the floor. Slowly she looked around recognizing the room in the dark to be her bedroom. She was safe and it had all turned out to be another haunting dream. Her skin was hot and clammy which made her bed sheets harder to pull off. Dylan finally stood and made her way to the window. After pushing at it the humidity finally gave away and the window opened. She looked outside at all the lights that were still on and the sky that was beginning to gain color.
After cooling down Dylan shut the window and looked to her clock. Just barely fifteen minutes until she would normally wake. I might as well get ahead start... she thought heading for the shower. By the time she was ready and down to her car she was already back on schedule. After lowering the top to her car and putting on her sunglasses she realized how great it felt to be back home. A week earlier she let it slip out how she had been having trouble sleeping with the recurring dreams and with Charlie always putting his Angels health first sent Dylan on a week long trip to Maui, Hawaii. Alex and Natalie reassured her not to worry and that they'd pick out a perfect temporary replacement.
Dylan entered the meeting room only to find it empty. Throwing her bag on one of the couches she walked around the room a bit seeing everything was the way it was before she had left. She nearly jumped five feet in the air when the phone rang. Going over to Basle's desk she pressed the button to turn on Charlie's new and improved speaker-box. "Good Morning Angels" Charlie beamed.
Dylan let out a yawn before answering. "Good Morning Charlie," Dylan went over to the couch and sat down. "It's just me here right now."
"Welcome back Dylan! Still having dream troubles?"
"Afraid so Charlie," Dylan said while leaning forward to grab a muffin off the table. She sniffed at it to make sure it wasn't one of Alex's creations. Once clear it was safe she unwrapped the paper lining and began to eat it.
A few moments later Natalie and Alex entered talking about something. They stopped dead in their tracks once they spotted Dylan on the couch eating her muffin. "Dylan!" Natalie exclaimed rushing over to give her a big hug. "You're finally back!"
Dylan looked to Alex who took a seat on the other side and shrugged. "I didn't know I was missed that much."
"Well you weren't" Alex said giving Dylan a look to show her she was only kidding. "But ever since we hired your replacement, Natalie couldn't wait for you to get home."
Dylan scrunched up the wrapper to the bottom of her muffin and shot it towards the waste basket barely missing it. "Speaking of my replacement," Dylan got up and threw away the wrapper properly. "How did they do?"
"Oh Dylan!" Natalie gushed. "They were great! We didn't have any big missions or anything but they were a big help."
Dylan slumped back on the couch and crossed her arms. "Too bad I won't get to meet them" she said half-heartedly.
"Oh but you will Dylan," Charlie said speaking up. "I told them to come in today to say goodbye and so that you could meet them."
In the hallway footsteps could be heard approaching towards the meeting room. "In fact, that's probably him now," Alex suggested. The door then opened and in walked Max and Bosley. "Oh" Alex said not even trying to hide her disappointment. "It's just Max and Basle."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Bosley shot back.
"Hey Alex...Natalie...Dylan...DYLAN!" Max rushed over and took a seat on the other side next to Dylan. "Welcome back, so did you bring me anything?" he said scanning around her to see if she might have had it out ready and waiting for him.
Dylan giggled at Max's hyperness at nine in the morning. "The only thing I brought back with me was a bad sunburn, sorry to disappoint you."
"Oh well that's okay," Max said looking around the room. "Hey did you meet your replacement yet?"
"No, all I've heard is that how great they are." Dylan said beginning to pick at another muffin. "So, what's their name?"
Max went to open his mouth but before he could get any sound out Natalie reached in front of Dylan and clamped her hand over Max's mouth. "We can't tell you, it's a surprise!" Natalie then pulled her hand away from Max's mouth as she squealed. "Ew! He licked my hand!" Max grinned and stuck his tongue out at her.
"Didn't you ever learn that trick when you were little?" Bosley asked. "I taught him that one myself."
"Yes, Uncle Bosley has been a positive role model for me" Max said proudly.
"If we hurry it might not be too late to save him," Alex said then ducking to avoid the pillow Basle threw at her.
"But your replacement taught me a lot too," Max picked a piece from Dylan's muffin and ate it before continuing. "He taught me how to pick a lock using a toothpick!"
Alex rolled her eyes. "That's amateur stuff, there are over a hundred other household items you can use to pick a lock. Bobby pin, coat hanger, nail-" Alex's eyes locked with Natalie and they broke into a huge grin as they heard the footsteps approaching.
"I'll be right back!" Natalie jumped from her seat and went out the door closing it behind her. Dylan sighed at all the big fuss towards the replacement. It was probably some FBI agent that she had never head of but would probably have to pretend to just so it wouldn't seem that the surprise was for nothing. Or maybe it was Charlie... From outside the room Dylan could hear Natalie talking to whoever it was. A few seconds later Natalie came back in and shut the door behind her but kept her hand on the knob. She gave a small giggle before continuing. "Okay...ready?" Dylan rolled her eyes and nodded. Natalie grinned and pulled the door open towards her. "Ta-da!"
Dylan wondered what the heck kind of joke they were trying to pull seeing no one standing there but then The Thin Man walked into the door way with an almost embarrassed look on his face not seeing why it was such a big deal. Everyone else looked to Dylan to see her expression. Her eyes grew wide and a look of shock mixed with confusion took form on her face.
"Yay!" Natalie giggled and began to jump up and down. "She's surprised!"
"Yeah I'd say so," Max said leaning to look at Dylan's expression more clearly then began waving his hand in front of her face.
Alex patted the spot next to her. "Come in, sit down. I'm sure Dylan has tons of questions." she said with a secretive smile. Before last week The Thin Man would have rather fed himself to sharks than to sit next to her but they eventually had work out their differences to be a good team.
Dylan snapped from her shock at the mention of her name. "Huh, oh yeah..." she said slowly wondering what there was to ask. "Well, what kind of stuff did you do last week?"
Natalie ran over to the couch and nudged The Thin Man closer to Alex so she could sit. "Ohh! Monday we had to switch a counterfeit jewel with the real one, and there was this little old lady. She was sooo cute! And she made us cookies which were really good too!" she said with her speech getting faster as she talked.
Charlie cleared his throat. "Natalie, relax there will be plenty of time to tell Dylan that later. Right now Angels we have a new case. Monday morning Geoffrey Pierson was found murdered in his office. The secretary who found him said that he was dead when she went in to give him coffee. Mr. Pierson's son Ian, discovered a letter he had written saying he had been planning to go to England because of some threats to get the code he had been working on."
"Wait," Alex said. "Is this the same Pierson of Pierson Online?"
"Right on the ball Alex, Pierson had been working on a special top secret code for the U.S. Government on the side. Ian knew it was kept in a small silver box but found when he search his father's office it was no where to be found. Ian hired you us to find the box and get it safely returned."
"Easier said than done," Dylan said tossing her leftover muffin on the table. She had lost her appetite since the surprise was sprung on her. "Do we have any leads?"
"Ian said he believes it was his Father's rival. Jeff Kenley. Mr. Pierson had beaten him out of getting the job from the government. I already looked into it and Mr. Kenley is having a costume party for Halloween."
"A little early for Halloween," Max added.
"I've already managed to get an invitation for you guys," Charlie continued. "The way I see it is two of you girls can be Bosley's date and-"
Bosley's eye grew wide at the mention of his name. "Ohhh no! I'm not going to be their date again. Last time you guys almost me killed! Besides, I've got to watch Max tonight. Mama's got her bingo club."
"Ohh Bos!" Natalie half whined. "If you won't take us, who will?"
"I don't know," Bosley said covering Max's mouth who was trying to volunteer himself. After pulling his hand away suddenly he glanced at The Thin Man who looked as if he hadn't been paying much attention to what was going on. "Why not him?"
Alex seemed to think it over a minute then grinned. "That's a perfect idea Bosley!" The Thin Man who as Bosley guessed had been not paying attention wondered why they were talking about him. "If you have any objections just say something." Alex said to him. The Thin Man looked around perplexed as to what she was talking about.
"Then it's settled," Charlie said. "Thin Man, you'll escort Alex and Dylan to the costume party."
The Thin Man's eye widened as he heard what Charlie just said and began shaking his head no and pulling his index finger across his throat. Natalie grinned and patted The Thin Man's knee as she understood what he was so worried about. "No it's okay. Alex didn't make those muffins." Letting out a defeated sigh he gave up trying to change anything. It couldn't really be as bad as Bosley made it sound...could it?
