The night Chad supposed her in her room was the same night she dumped him and started keeping the knife under her pillow. Reaching under the pillow she grasped the handle. So far whoever was in her bed had only put their arm around her waist but she wasn't about to let them do anything more.
Swiftly Dylan sat straight up in bed tossing the knife in the air. Giving two quick claps the lights popped back on just as she caught the knife by the handle and giving a strong shriek to startle the attacker with the knife raised behind her head ready to strike.
The attacker who had not been expecting that to happen gave a shrill scream as they got caught in the sheets causing them to fall to the floor. Dylan slowly inched her way over to where the assailant was lying under the sheets not moving. With the knife poised she grabbed at the sheets and uncovered the attacker only to find The Thin Man starring up at her wide eyed.
Dylan let go of the sheets and sat back down on her bed while The Thin Man tried to sit up. "What do you think you were doing in my bed?!" she yelled. The Thin Man looked to the floor avoiding her eyes. "Never mind, I want you to go home, now!" She said getting back up and helping him stand. "If you want I can drive you there if it's not too far." The Thin Man just kept looking at the ground. "...You don't have anywhere to stay do you?" Slowly yet unwillingly he shook his head no.
Dylan sat back on the bed. She knew what it had been like having no where to go. After Seamus was put behind bars she had no home or friends to turn to. "I'm sorry I yelled at you," she softly mumbled. Reaching out for his wrist she pulled him onto the bed so he was sitting next to her. "Where did you stay all last week?" The Thin Man finally looked at her then patted the bed. "You're kidding!" she said incredulously. "How did you get in?" He nodded towards the window.
Dylan sighed. "I don't know what to do with you. I can't kick you outside, and I can't let you stay here...or maybe I can." she said suddenly getting an idea. Grabbing the extra pillow on her bed she went over to her closet and took out a comforter from the top shelf. "Follow me" she called over her shoulder. When The Thin Man walked into the living room Dylan had already spread out the comforter on the couch and put the pillow at one end. "You're going to be a little hot if you sleep in that suit." Dylan noted but The Thin Man ignored her and got under the comforter. "Good-night" she whispered to him before turning the living room lights off and returning to her own room where she locked the door. Not because she didn't trust him but...Just incase she thought before getting back into bed, fixing the sheets and falling fast asleep just a few minutes later.
"Good morning" Dylan called out as she entered the kitchen. "What do you want for breakfast?" she asked while rummaging through her freezer. "I have microwavable pancakes or waffles." After waiting for a reply it sunk in. He doesn't talk she remembered. Taking both out she walked into the living room looking both boxes over. "Okay which would you rather have? Neither look very appetizing..." She looked to the couch only to find the blanket half way to the floor. "Hey...Thin Man?" she asked curiously. Looking around the room she noticed the sliding door was slightly ajar. Walking over she saw he had crudely tied the section of hair around the handle. Putting both boxes down she untied the hair and put it to her nose. Giving a small sniff she realized why he left it behind. It had lost it's scent. Closing the door and locking it she decided she wasn't going to give The Thin Man another chance to rip her hair.
Outside apartment 4b at Chateau Maramount--8:20am
Dylan stepped into the hallway locking her door behind her. As she was about to leave Ethan stepped out of his apartment looking up at her. "Oh hey Dylan, wow...never seen you with your hair in a ponytail before..." he said observing it. "On your way to work?"
"Yeah I am. My hair is finally long enough so I thought I'd try it," Dylan said as she started to walk out with Ethan.
"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Ethan asked trying to steady the way the words came out.
"Yeah, sure." Dylan looked to Ethan wondering why he sounded nervous.
"Well uh, I've ...I like...I think you're keen," he finally sputtered out. My goodness did I just say 'keen'? he thought appalled. "I mean I think your nice,"
Dylan smiled. "Aw, I think you're nice too, is that what you were so worried about saying?"
Ethan stopped by front door. "No, uh...I was wondering...maybe sometime if you weren't too busy...if you'd...go out with me?"
Dylan smile grew bigger until she could hold it in anymore and began to laugh. "Oh that...was good." she attempted to say between laughing. Looking to his face she stopped when she saw he wasn't laughing. "You weren't...Oh God...I'm-"
Ethan tried to vaguely smile. "Naw, it's okay. I've got to go to work now. Bye." He said the last few words with no emotion and pushed past Dylan into the bright outside. Dylan watched as he walked down the sidewalk holding his case by the handle. I've just broken his poor little heart. Dylan felt as if she wanted to go back inside and crawl back under the covers but some how she managed to push herself on outside and into her car.
Pierson Industries Computer Lab Room 1-9--8:40am
The box was the easy part to open. The hard part was the code. He pushed the disc in to the drive until he heard it lock in place. Opening the drive on the computer he saw the only type of file was a text file. It couldn't be this easy could it? Double clicking the file it opened to read plain and simple:
426-7437766
But it was that easy. All he had to do was insert the code into the program and the world was literally at his fingertips. The Government wouldn't be able to stop him...nobody would. He quickly typed the numbers and slid the mouse over to submit giving it a click. "ACCESS DENIED" flashed on to the screen. Holding his breath he double checked each number. It was correct so what went wrong?
He jumped at the sound at the door. He hadn't told anyone about the room except for Janey. Peeking through the blinds he saw Jane standing looking rather nervous. Quickly he unlocked the door and ushered her in. "Did anyone see you?" he asked.
"No one darling" she said wrapping her arms around him only to be shoved off.
"Not now, the code...it's not working," he said sitting back in front of the computer. As if expecting it he picked up the cell phone just as it rang. After pulling out the antennae he pressed talk. "Pierson here. Yes, everything went fine this morning. They dropped off the box back at Townsend's place last night just like I thought. Yeah, sure thing Kenley. You'll be the first to know. Okay."
Pressing stop he put the phone down and looked to Janey. "We need to figure out this code, and fast. Get on that other computer and try going through the worker directory to find the one who works best at solving puzzles."
Jane sat down and turned the machine on. "Will it have that information?" she asked skeptically.
"Yeah, hurry up! It should be under intelligence or something..." Ian took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. It would be a long day and would only get longer if he sat around doing nothing so he grabbed a note pad and began to write down important dates.
Pierson Industries somewhere on the 4th Floor-- 8:50am
"Hey Joe," Ethan said throwing his work bag on top of a short filling cabinet.
"Dude, you sound like you're having a bumin' morning. What's the matter?" Joe said after taking a swig from his flask.
Flopping back in his chair Ethan replayed Dylan's reaction in his head over and over. "She laughed at me. I asked like you told me to and she laughed at me..."
"No loss dude, she's probably a flooz-"
"Don't talk about Dylan like that," Ethan snapped. "She's very nice, I've never seen any proof that she's a ...well that type."
"Okay, chill," Joe held his hands up in surrender then took a glance at the flask her held. "Here, you look like you could use some," He said holding it out to Ethan.
"Are you kidding! We could get caught!" Ethan said his eyes growing wide at the thought. Giving a quick side glance to make sure the door wasn't going to open he grabbed the flask and began to drink.
Just as Joe gave Ethan a cheer on, the door opened. "Ethan Lemke?" the voice said from the door way. Ethan being startled tried to stop from drinking anymore and what was left in his mouth sputtered out and went down the wrong direction. "I guess that'd be you," the voice continued as Ethan coughed.
"Mr. Pierson" Ethan's voice squeaked. "Uhm..I am..ah.."
"Mr. Lemke, let me make this short. I need your help." Taking a glance over at Joe who was busy refilling his flask he whispered so that Ethan could only hear. "Let's talk about this alone, shall we?"
Charles Townsend Agency--9:00am
"So he just came in this morning at 8 and got the box?" Natalie asked putting the third sugar packet in her coffee.
"Yeah," Bosley said. He was sitting at the desk updating the books once again. "He said it was important that he have it."
"Probably so that he could take over where his father left off." Alex snatched the fourth packet of sugar from Natalie before she could put it in her coffee. "I wonder what was on that code....well if Kenley stole it once, he may steal it again so we should keep our eye on him."
"Good morning!" Dylan called out when she entered.
"Wow, someone's awake this morning," Natalie said before taking a sip of her coffee.
"Yeah, well I'm awake but not doing all that great." Dylan said sitting on the couch.
As if getting the special code Alex and Natalie sat on each side of Dylan. "Uh oh, sounds like guy trouble. What's the matter?" Natalie put her coffee down on the table disregarding it due to the excessive amount of sugar.
"It's not a guy I like, but a guy that likes me. You see Ethan my next door neighbor asked me out this morning and I ...thought it was joke but the poor guy was serious." Dylan fussed with the polish on one of her nails as she told about what had happened that morning.
Alex gave an annoyed sigh after finding out that is what had been wrong. "He'll get over it. Now...any other guys in your life?" She said trying to see where things were going with their creepy friend.
"No, there haven't been any for a long time." Dylan suspected something in the tone of Alex's voice. "Why?"
"No reason," Natalie quickly covered for Alex. "Hey you don't know where The Thin Man was last night do you?"
Dylan looked from Natalie to Alex wondering if they had known about last night all along. "No...should I?" She asked innocently enough.
"Well, Nat and I were driving over here last night after dropping you off and he got out of the car while we were at a red light, we haven't seen him since. Wouldn't be surprised if he didn't show up again. He doesn't want to be stuck working here." Alex glanced at Natalie as she continued. "Speaking of The Thin Man...how are things going between you two?"
Dylan's eyes narrowed trying to figure out what Alex had meant by that. "What do you mean?"
"What she means is..." Natalie started to come to Alex's rescue again, but then decided to just ask it. "Do you like him?" Bosley who had obviously been listening secretly looked up his pencil poised on the paper.
Dylan stood turning around to look at the two to see if they were serious. "Like him?" she cried. Walking around to the other side of the couch she back up slowly stopping once her hand was on the knob as she continued talking . "Oh I see what you guys are up to. The whole thing leaving me and him alone, well last night he ripped my hair again!" she said pointing at the spot where hair was covering it. "Now if you think I actually want to date a guy who get pleasure out of ripping my hair think again!" Dylan clamored before opening the door and coming face to face with The Thin Man.
