After four hours of driving, three wrong terns, two bathroom breaks and one petrol fill up stop finally she had entered the property and was heading toward where Frank had told her to meet him. Heading down the dirt road she couldn't help but admire the scenery as the car rumbled toward the house. She stopped mid way though deciding which way to go as she got to a small fork in the road.
"Why did you stop?" The lone passenger in Olivia's car asked. Olivia had no idea why Frank had asked to meet her, and even less of an idea why it had to be in such a remote location. She was looking after her cousin for the week, so had decided to head out there and make a road trip of it for the duo. After talking to Frank about what ever it was he'd dragged her to the middle of nowhere to talk about, the two would drive back at their own pace, stopping where ever they wanted.
"Because I'm thinking." Olivia stated. She knew that Frank had said to meet her at the house, but she'd seen a 'for sale' sign as she turned in the driveway so she doubted he'd be waiting at a deserted empty house for her. To the left near what seemed to be the stables were two large white containers. Olivia recognised them easily as one of the OSIR's mobile labs. It was more likely that she'd find Frank there and not at the house, so she turned left toward the stables instead of strait ahead toward the house.
"I thought we were meeting Uncle Frank at the house." Marlee questioned as she looked out toward the large house. Olivia couldn't help but inwardly shudder. She hated Frank, but couldn't show it while Marlee was around. Though Marlee wasn't related to Frank, she'd been taught to call him that name, and Olivia wasn't about to tell her otherwise no mater how much it made her skin crawl.
"So did I." Olivia said as she continued down the road toward where the mobile lab was. "But something tells me that 'Uncle Frank' is playing a little trick on us." That trick being one of his games of manipulation.
Olivia knew Marlee wouldn't understand how Franks mind worked or how he manipulated everyone he knew like pawns in one big chess game. Marlee was just a sweet, gentle, innocent 9-year-old, and now it seemed that she was being thrown into Franks melting pot of ulterior motives and incessant games.
Coming around the side of the what turned out to be some stables the mobile lab came into view, standing alone in the green field like a rogue square white rock. The occupants must have heard Olivia's car, as three people came out to greet them. She couldn't help but think of them of them as the scarecrow, the tin man and the lion from the wizard of oz. One was overly tall and skinny, a second seemed very rigid with each movement, and the third a women hair golden hair like a lions mane. But she couldn't help but wonder if that made her Dorothy and Marlee Toto.
"What's that?" Marlee questioned pointing to the lab. "And who are they?" She questioned looking at them still pointing.
"I don't know, but I'll tell you as soon as I find out. Just wait in the car for the moment while I 'follow the yellow brick road'." She joked. Marlee just gave her a confused look, which only made Olivia laugh. "Don't worry, I'm just being my strange self." She added, giving Marlee a light wink before opening the door.
Going over to the lab she stepped up to the flat landing and then stood there knowing Marlee was now out of hearing range. She folded her arms and lent to one side looking up at them. "So where is the prick?" She questioned though it came out more like a statement.
"Frank?" Peter questioned.
"He left over an hour ago. In quite a mood too actually." Matt looked over toward her cocking his head to the side. "My guess is that you're our helper for the case."
"Helper?" Olivia questioned. "What are you on about?" She questioned having no idea what they meant or were implying, not to mention whom they even were. Just what had Frank gotten her into? And why had he left before talking to her. She'd come out there specifically to talk to him and pick up some documents, though more importantly talk to him face to face.
"You're Olivia right?" Matt questioned. "The one Frank sent to help us out, and keep Mrs Bolton out of out way so we can do our work… Right?"
There was a pause of silence and an air of suspension. "Son of a bitch tricked me." Olivia said having put one and one together. "I should have known better then to trust him. The moron thinks the whole world is at his disposal to do his bidding."
Lindsay moved forward over to her. "You mean you have no idea about this case or why you're here?" She questioned Olivia as she tried to understand what she meant.
"No… I'm here just to talk to him." Brushing her hair over her shoulder she looked back to the car and Marlee who was looking out at them. "I should have known something was up, why else would he get me to meet him in the middle of nowhere." Pausing she thought about what she could do. On one hand she could leave now and spend the week with Marlee like she had planned. On the other hand she could stay, help and not have Frank on her nerves for an indeterminate period of time.
"Frank asked us to give this to you." Matt said taking giving her the thick envelope with her name on it. "Gonna tell us what's in it? I have a bet going… I say it's cash and I have a C Note riding on it." He mused.
"Sorry, but if it's what I think it is… it's just documents and a letter from Frank giving his 'apologies' and telling me stay and help." She spoke as she opened the envelope, checking the contents of it. As she'd expected there were some documents for her, and at the top a hand written letter signed at the bottom by Frank. "And… I'm right. Sorry looks like you're 100 bucks poorer." She said as she skimmed the letter over before shoving all the contents back in the envelope.
"Darn, I was hoping for something sinister and seeded." Matt said shaking his head showing his bemusement. "So looks like you're stuck with us. And who's the little girl in the car?" He questioned giving Marlee a smile and a light wave.
Olivia looked back to the car, sighing lightly. "My cousin Marlee. I'm looking after her for the week, and since I just thought I was coming here to talk to Frank, I didn't see the harm in her coming."
"Road trop." Peter said nodding.
"Exactly." Olivia said sighing. "Crap aside, it looks like I'm stuck with you, and vice versa… So you may as well tell me who you are, and what the case is about." She needed the contents of the envelope, and time would decide if the time there was worth it.
There was a pause between Peter, Lindsay and Matt as they all looked at each other. "Well I'm your humble ruler." He said then took a short fake bow. "Matt Praeger, Case Manager. And this is Lindsay Donner, our Senior Data Analyst. And Peter Axon, resident physicist."
There was yet another pause. "That's it? Three people for one case? No security? No medical doctor? What the hell sort of a case is this?" Whenever she worked with Curtis and his team there were it least 6 on a case, and most cases there were up to 10 not including her.
"The one where the only reason we're here is Frank can keep face… We're just looking over a house before a lady buys it. The woman donates to the OSIR, so Frank is being… himself and is looking over it for her." Matt told Olivia.
"Great, it least I'm not the only minion of his." Olivia said then looked back to the car. She waved for Marlee to come out. If they were spending the week together as it looked like, she'd have to introduce Marlee to everyone.
Marlee came out of Olivia's car, clad in a pear of jeans, blue t-shirt top with a heart and a jacket. Her long thick brown was in a long plat down her back, her brown eyes gleaming as she ran over to Olivia with a smile on her face. She went over to Olivia, standing strong against her, obviously not to outwardly shy.
"Marlee, I want you to meet some people." Olivia said with a smile. "This is Matt Praeger, Lindsay Donner and Peter Axon. Matt, Lindsay, Peter this is Marlee Bishop." Olivia gave Marlee a reassuring smile to let her know it was alright.
"It's nice to meet you." Marlee said with a smile on her face. "Are they friends of Uncle Frank?" She questioned looking up to Olivia, then back to the other three only to see a confused gaze on their faces
"Uncle Frank?" Matt questioned before being quickly cut off by Olivia.
"No, no." Olivia said shaking her head to Marlee. "The work with him though, Uncle Frank is their boss." She said.
Marlee just smiled. "So they are friends of Uncle Frank." She said with a smile. "Where is he?" She then questioned looking now not only to Olivia, but Peter and the others also.
"Sorry hun." Olivia said as she put her hand around her shoulder. "We missed him. Matt here said he got a really important call so he had to leave early."
"But he left you that envelope." Marlee said pointing to it.
Matt could see what Olivia was doing, trying to make Frank to be the good guy so she wouldn't be letting the young girls hopes down. Eagerly he stepped in to help her. "He sure did." He said with a smile. "He asked me to give that to Olivia before he left. And do you know what else he said?" He paused for effect. "He said that you and Olivia were allowed to stay here for a week with the horses, and the stables, and the grass and everything else."
"Really?" Marlee asked eagerly as she looked to Olivia for confirmation. Oliva just smiled lightly nodding. "Cool! Isn't Uncle Frank the best!" She said as she jumped up and down lightly.
"He's…. something." Matt said giving a look to Olivia that she easily understood. "You and Olivia are both staying in the ever lovely guesthouse." He said before bending down, picking up Marlee's hand so he could drop a set of keys into them.
By now Marlee was absolutely brimming with joy, half jumping up and down with excitement. But Olivia knew she still had to talk to the others about what her job was as 'helper'. She smiled lightly down to Marlee brushing her fringe from her face. "Why don't you go back to the car with the keys while I finish talking to Matt." Marlee nodded and half skipped back to her the car. "So Marlee and I have the guest house… what about you three?"
"Frank got permission for us to sleep in the spare rooms in the house… who knows how he wrangled that." Peter said as he leaned against the wall for support moaning slightly as he did.
"Now Olivia, your job is to keep the prospective owner out of the way. Apparently she is a little over the top, and so we can get out of her fast you just need to keep her company." He said giving her a light smile.
"Do you think I could get a preliminary report on what you have so far?" Olivia questioned. "Just so I know who she is about the house, a floor plan maybe so I'm not walking into walls or off cliffs…"
Lindsay laughed lightly. "I'll get you one now." She said lightly before heading inside the lab.
"Look we aren't going to do anything major today, and this Bolton woman isn't coming till tomorrow so why don't you go to the guest house, settle in and we'll pop by later." Matt offered. He'd come to the conclusion that Frank wanted Olivia there while he wasn't and he wanted to know a little more about Olivia before he let her into his lab… for now.
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Olivia questioned as she raised her eyebrows lightly, folding her arms also.
"Yes." Matt stated jokingly with a smile on his face.