Chapter 3

At the Stuart's residence Phyllis parked her car beside Casey's car. After getting out of the car she went to the front door and rung the doorbell. After a short time of waiting she knocked on the door. She waited for a short time. She then went to a window to where she was able to peek in. The house was dark inside. After being confident that know one was home she walked up to Casey's car and peeked in. She then got into her car and left.

Minutes later Phyllis was walking into her house. Bruce and Derrick were in the living room, sitting on the couch and watching a baseball game.

Phyllis walked into the living. She then asked, "Derrick, when you talked to Casey earlier did she speak of any plans."

"She barely said anything to me," said Derrick. "Basically as soon as I walked up Casey, Jeffery and… and Eve left the park."

"Eve? Who is Eve?"

"She is the person that the Eve doll was model after. According to Casey, she knew her for eight years."

"Is Eve a tall African-American woman with a large freckle on her throat?"

"Yeah, that's her. Have you two met before?"

"We met once briefly."

"Mom, what's going on?" asked Bruce.

"I'm not sure if anything is going on," said Phyllis. She then went to the kitchen, picked up the phone and dialed it. Bruce walked to where he wasn't seen by Phyllis and still was able to hear what was being said.

At the cabin Ben and Drew were dancing to a slow song in the living room when the phone rang.

Drew lightly padded Ben on the back and said, "I will let you get the phone. I need to go potty."

As Drew walked away, Ben walked over, picked up the phone and said, "Hello."

"Hey Ben, it's Phyllis. Can I speak to Drew?"

"Drew is preoccupied. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Drew had asked me to go by your house and check on things for her."

"Drew called you and asked you to check on Casey and Jeffery?"

"Well Drew told me that she had a nagging feeling that something wasn't right."

"Since you went by the house what did you find out?"

"Well Casey's car was there, but she and Jeffery wasn't home. I believe they locked up the house and left with Eve."

Ben asked in a dreadful manner, "Eve? Eve who?"

"You know who the woman is. She favors the Eve doll. She even came with you to Bruce and Casey's game one day."

"Are you certain about Eve? I mean of her being back in town."

"Well, I haven't seen Eve, but Derrick ran into Casey, Jeffery and Eve in the park this morning."

"How certain are you, of Eve being the same woman as before?"

"Ben, I'm very certain she is the same woman. Derrick mentioned that Eve was the model for the Eve doll. Why didn't you tell me that you and Casey knew her?"

Ben took a second to thank of a response. He then said, "Eve was scared that if people knew that we personally knew her that we would be hounded by many people who would like to meet her." Drew was returning to the living room. "Phyllis, thanks for the information."

As Ben was hanging up the phone, Drew asked, "Was that Phyllis?"

"That was Phyllis and she was reporting in after checking up on Casey."

"Ben, I only asked her to do that because of the feeling I'm having."

"Drew, I understand and since I know that some of your intuitions have merit, I'm not at all upset with you for asking Phyllis to check up on Casey and Jeffery."

Drew looked at Ben in a skeptical manner. She then asked, "Okay, what's wrong at the house?"

"Nothing is wrong at the house."

"Something is wrong. This is the first time you acknowledge the feelings that I get."

"I acknowledge your feelings when it comes to the case files that you are working on."

"That is just being a good lawyer. Now are you going to tell me what is going on at the home?"

"Drew, nothing is going on at home. Phyllis had just said that Casey and Jeffery were out, and there are no indications that anything is wrong."

"Casey had mentioned that she wanted to study this weekend, so just the fact that she is not home studying makes me more confident that something isn't right."

"Honey, you are being paranoid." Ben walked up to Drew and held her. "If it will make you feel better, once we wake up in the morning we can load the van up and head for home."

"It would make me feel better if we can leave now."

"Let's just wait for a few more hours. I'm sure Casey and Jeffery won't be gone away from the house too long. In the meantime this is our anniversary. Shall we continue our dance?"

"You are just trying to get my mind off of this."

"I'm trying my best." Ben gave Drew and passionate kiss.

At Phyllis' house Bruce walked up to Derrick and said, "Hey, something isn't right with Casey and I believe we need to go find out what."

"What are you talking about?" asked Derrick.

"I will explain on the way to Casey's house."

Derrick got up. He and Bruce then walked out.

At the Gordon's residence Jeffery was enjoying himself on the swings, monkey-bars and the two slides. Eve was sitting on one of the swings and watching Jeffery. Allen, Andy and Chloe were standing a short distance from were Jeffery was playing. Casey was walking upstairs to use the upstairs' bathroom. As Casey reached the top of the steps she noticed all kinds of pictures of Andy's relatives hanging on the walls. She then saw a row of family pictures of Andy, Andy's dad and Andy's mom. Each picture was one year apart starting when Andy was an infant. The background of each picture was a Christmas background. Casey noticed when Andy reached the age of fourteen Andy's mom was no longer in the picture.

Beverly walked up the steps a short time after Casey and saw how she was admiring the pictures. Beverly then said, "Andy was a hansom boy wasn't he?"

Casey looked at Beverly and grinned. She then said, "He was awfully cute growing up. Of course he is not too bad now either." Beverly grinned. Casey pointed to the last picture Andy's mom was in. "Mrs. Gordon, Andy's mother isn't in any of the pictures following this one."

"Joanie, died when Andy was thirteen," said Beverly. She then pointed to the same picture Casey pointed to. "I believe it was four months after this picture was taken." Casey looked at the last picture of Joanie as if she was in a trance like state. Her eyes then began to water. Beverly noticed how Casey was looking at the picture. "Which love one did you lose, Dear?"

Casey looked at Beverly as if she was caught off guard. She then asked, "What makes you think I lost a love one?"

"I can tell by how you are looking at that picture. So who was the person?"

"My mom. It's been about eleven years now and I still miss her."

"I was able to tell. Would I be overstepping my bounds if I would ask what happen to your mom?"

Casey slightly grinned and said, "She went to a doctor for a checkup and the doctor found something. Before I was able to comprehend what was happening she was gone. At the time my dad wouldn't tell me what the doctor found and I never asked since."

"You don't want to know why your mom died."

"I do, but I'm also scared to find out," said Casey. Beverly looked at Casey in a curious manner. "I'm scared that I would find out that what killed my mom is hereditary."

"If it is hereditary then that should be the more reason for you to know."

"You're right of course and one of these days I will get brave enough to ask."

"You shouldn't procrastinate too long."

Casey smiled and said, "I won't. Mrs. Gordon, how did Andy's mom die?"

"Andy and his parents were living in Italy at the time. Andy… oh Andy's name is actually Andrew and his father is also name Andrew."

"So Andy is a junior?"

"He is… well Andy and Andrew were out. While they were gone Joanie took a bath. As she was getting out of the tub, she slipped and fell and split her head open on the tub."

Casey looked at Beverly in a squeamish manner and said, "My god. I hope Andy wasn't the one who found her."

"Andrew was the one who found her and she was actually still alive then. She died on the way to the hospital."

"I was a complete mess when my mom died, so I can imagine what Andy went through."

"Andy was also a complete mess. Chloe was the only one that was able to help him."

"Chloe, who is outside?"

"Yeah; when Joanie died Andy came to live here. At the time Chloe lived with her parents in the house across the street. Chloe is a very outgoing person and when she met Andy… well she basically refused to let Andy sit around and mope "

"I didn't exactly mope around, but I did have a problem accepting my mom's death. I even surf the internet looking for anything mystical that would bring my mom back to life. Eve was the one who help me through my difficult time."

"Good friends who are able to help us through our problems are nice to have."

Casey grinned and said, "They certainly are."

"Well Dear, didn't you come up here to use the bathroom?"

"I did. These Christmas photos just caught my eye."

"These pictures are actually more than Christmas pictures."

"What do you mean?"

"Except for the first picture which was taken right after Christmas each one of these pictures was taken on Andy's birthday, December 15."

"That's interesting. Who started the annual-family pictures?"

"Joanie started it and when Joanie died Andrew thought it was important to carrying it on."

"Does Andy's dad still live in Italy?"

"Actually he has been in France for the past two years"

"Does Andy's dad return to the states to take the picture?"

"If he can he does or when he can't he buys Andy a plane ticket, so Andy and join him where he is."

"During Andy's travels from country to country, he must have attended several types of schools."

"Joanie was a teacher, Dear, so Andy was home schooled."

"Did Andy become a teacher because of his mother?"

"I do believe that was the main reason; however, he does like kids."

"Mrs. Gordon, I enjoyed the talk, but I really do have to use the bathroom."

Beverly pointed to the bathroom door and said, "It's right through that door."

"Thanks." Casey turned and walked towards the bathroom.

Minutes later Casey was walking into the backyard. Andy and Jeffery were passing a football around. Chloe, Eve and Allen were standing a few feet from where Andy was and talking. .

Andy had the ball and when he saw Casey, he called out, "Casey—" Casey turned to look. "—catch." Andy passed the ball.

Casey caught the ball. She then said in a sarcastic manner, "Well thanks for the split second warning before you done that."

"I'm sorry," said Andy. "Jeffery was saying how you played on a little league football team a few years ago."

"I did, but I was the quarterback and not a receiver."

"Can you still pass a football?" Casey smiled. She then reared back and threw the ball to Andy. The ball went straight into Andy's reach. He caught it with no difficulty. "I will take that as a yes." Andy tossed the ball to Jeffery.

Casey walked up and stood a few feet from Andy. She then looked at her watch and said, "Andy, I think we should be thinking about heading back home before too long."

Jeffery walked towards Casey.

Chloe stepped up and said, "Casey, the four of you should stick around and visit for a while."

"Chloe, I feel I'm intruding here and I don't want to over stay my welcome."

Allen spoke up, "Casey, you are a friend of Andy's. You, Jeffery and Eve are welcome here with Andy anytime."

Jeffery walked up to Casey and said, "Casey, I want to stay longer."

Casey looked at Jeffery for a second. She then looked at Allen and said, "Mr. Gordon, thank you for making us feel welcome in your home…"

Jeffery took hold of Casey's hand and asked, "Casey, can we stay, please?"

Casey looked at Jeffery and said, "I see studying today is out."

Jeffery had a confused expression on his face and asked, "What does that mean?"

"It means that we can stay for a while."

Eve stepped up and said, "Awesome, now Chloe and Mr. Gordon can show me how to play pool."

"There's a pool table here?" asked Casey.

"There is and I can't believe Eve has never played pool before," said Allen.

Chloe asked, "Casey, do you play pool?"

"I do, but it has been close to a year since I played last."

"How good are you?" asked Chloe.

"I'm actually quite good at it."

Andy asked, "Have you ever played on a team before?"

"No, but two years ago I did join a contest that was going around on campus and I rank the eleventh best pool player out of three hundred students."

"It sounds like we have ourselves a shark in the house," said Allen.

"Shark? Where is there a shark?" asked Eve.

"Eve, he was referring to me," said Casey.

"Why are you being called a shark?" asked Eve.

Chloe gestured to Eve and said, "I never saw a woman as innocent as Eve before."

"She is from a small town," said Casey. "Eve, if a person that is very good at playing pool scams another person that is not so good at playing pool out of some money then the good player is called a shark."

"Casey, do you scam people out of money?" asked Eve.

Casey slowly shook her head and said, "No, Mr. Gordon just called me that as a joke."

"Oh, I get it now," said Eve.

"Since we have that settled, shall we go play pool?" asked Chloe.

"Sure, I'll play," said Casey.

Jeffery patted Casey's arm and asked, "Can I watch."

"Yes, you can come and watch," said Casey.

Minutes later everyone is walking into room with a pool table and a ping-pong table. Chloe walked up to the pool table and racked the balls.

A few pictures of relatives were on the walls in the room. Casey saw a picture with twenty kids from the ages of three to ten. She walked up and looked at it.

Andy stepped up behind her and asked, "Can you find me in that picture?"

Casey pointed and said, "You are the little boy right there."

"How did you know that was me?"

"Your grandma has pictures of you from a baby to now hanging on the wall in the upstairs hallway."

"Oh that's right, the downstairs bathroom is out of order so you had to go upstairs."

"So who are the other kids?"

"They are my cousins from my dad's side of the family. I even have three more cousins that were born after this picture was taken."

"How many siblings does your dad have?"

"My dad has four brothers and three sisters, and these are their kids."

"Wow, your dad is from a large family. I surprised you don't have any siblings." Casey saw a mourning expression on Andy's face. "Did I say something I shouldn't have?"

"No, it's not that. I actually I had a twin sister, but she died from an underdeveloped heart two days after we were born."

"I'm sorry. I..."

"Casey, that's okay. You didn't know."

"Your mom never thought of having anymore kids?"

"When my mom was six and a half months pregnant with us, she was involved in an accident that caused a premature labor with me and my sister. The incident left my mom unable to bear anymore children."

"I seem to keep saying the wrong things."

Andy grinned and said, "Casey your fine. In fact I actually like that you are taking an interest in wanting to know this stuff about me. Earlier it seemed that you didn't want to know things about me at all."

"I felt that what you were trying to tell me was inappropriate at the time."

"Do you still think that?"

"I might be more inclined to listen, but there are still subjects that you should keep to yourself."

"Like what?"

"I will let you know if you bring up one of those subjects."

"Would your smile be one of those subjects?"

Casey looked at Andy in a curious manner and asked, "What about my smile."

"You have a beautiful smile and you should smile more often."

Casey slightly grinned and said, "I told you last night not to give me any of your lines."

"I'm not giving you any lines. You have a beautiful smile and you should show it more. I also meant what I told you last night about your lovely eyes. I would tell you what else about you that are lovely, but I don't want to press my luck."

As Casey was looking at Andy in a skeptical manner, Chloe walked up and asked, "Are you two going to jabber all night or are you two going to play pool."

"We're playing," said Casey. She turned and walked towards the pool table followed by Andy.

At the Stuart's residence Bruce and Derrick sat in their car watching the house.

Derrick looked at his watch. He then said, "Bruce, why are we sitting here? If Casey is in trouble then she won't be returning."

"According to my mom, the house is locked up, so that means they left willingly, and I don't know how to begin, but to watch the house."

Derrick opened the door and said, "I can't sit and wait. I'm going to see if I can find something."

"Derrick, I doubt that there is anything to find," said Bruce. Derrick shut the door and walked towards the house. Bruce opened his door and got out. "Derrick, wait up." Bruce shut the door and rushed to catch up to Derrick. "Derrick, don't even think about breaking in."

"I'm going to do what it takes to find Casey."

"Derrick, if Casey is not in trouble and you break in then not only will she not forgive you, she may even press charges against you." Derrick walked up to Casey's car and looked in. When he saw that the doors to the car were unlocked, he opened the door and started snooping. "Derrick, Casey is definitely not going to like that."

"I'm looking for clues to where Casey and Jeffery might be."

"Derrick, at the moment there is no reason to violate Casey's privacy so get out or I will drag you out."

Derrick got out and shut the door. He then said, "Why are you acting like this?"

"There is no indication that Casey and Jeffery are in trouble, so I'm not going to get Casey upset with me by you snooping around Casey's car."

"Fine." Derrick walked up to the front door and tried the door. "Bruce, do you know if Ben has a hide-a-key."

"That is it, we are leaving. Coming here was a bad idea."

"If Casey and Jeffery are in trouble, would you be able to live with yourself if you could have help, but didn't."

"Every indication indicates that Casey left willingly, so until I find something that says different neither one of us are breaking in."

"Okay, fine, we will leave." As Derrick walked away from the door, he glanced down into a wastebasket and noticed the crumbled paper. "Wait, what's this?" Derrick reached down, picked up the note, uncrumbled it and read it allowed. "Casey, I came by to talk to you about the idol I'm researching for you…"

"Derrick, tell me that you didn't give Casey the idol of Kobol."

"I can tell that I didn't, but I would be lying."

"Derrick, you told your dad that everything was accounted for."

"Everything is accounted for. I know where every item is."

"Every item is supposed to be locked up in storage. Come Monday we can be in serious trouble when they discover the idol missing."

"Bruce, will you relax. My dad and the others acted as if the idol was an insignificant find, so I doubt it will be missed."

"Casey was right about you, you don't respect people." Bruce then snatched the note away from Derrick and started to look at it. "The name of the guy that wrote this note is Andy and he had left his cell phone number." Bruce took his cell phone off of his belt and dialed the number.

"What are you planning to do?"

"I'm planning to get the idol back and return it to where it belongs."

"Bruce, chances are, the idol is in the house. If we can get in, we can retrieve it."

"We are not breaking in." Bruce pressed the button to end the call. "Andy's phone rang until it went into voicemail. I will try the number again later, but right now we are going home."

"You are so concern about getting in trouble over the idol, but you don't want to break in to retrieve it."

"You seriously need help." Bruce turned and walked towards his car.

Derrick followed behind Bruce and asked, "I need help? I think it's the other way around. You came here to find out what happened to Casey and Jeffery, but you are too righteous to do some real investigation."

"Until I can speak to this Andy guy, this investigation is over."

"Suit yourself."

At the Gordon's residence Chloe walked into the bathroom. Casey, Allen, Eve were at the pool table. Eve was in a middle of a shot. Andy was teaching Jeffery how to play ping-pong. Beverly was watching Andy and Jeffery.

Eve made the ball she was shooting for and then scratched. She then said, "Casey, I finally made a ball. Do I shoot again?"

"Eve, you scratched… you knocked the white ball in too, so your turn is over," said Casey. "It's Chloe's turn now."

"Chloe is still in the bathroom," said Allen. "Should I shoot for my partner?"

"I have no problem with that," said Casey.

Allen placed the cue ball on the table. He then made a three shot run before missing.

As Casey was taking her turn, Chloe returned to the room. Casey made the ball she was aiming for, but before Casey was able to shoot again, Chloe walked up to her and whispered, "Casey, do you have any tampons with you?"

"I do have some in my purse, but my purse is in Andy's jeep. I'll get Jeffery to go out and get my purse." Casey walked up to the ping-pong table. "Andy, I need to interrupt your and Jeffery's game for a little bit. Jeffery, can you go out and get my purse out of Andy's jeep?"

Jeffery put the paddle down and said, "Okay, I will be back in a little bit."

"Just hurry," said Casey.

As Casey went back to the pool table, Jeffery left the room.

A minute later Jeffery was getting into the front passenger seat for Casey's purse. As he picked up the purse he heard a chirp from Andy's cell phone. He picked up the phone and saw that Andy had a missed call. When Jeffery got out of the jeep he had Casey's purse and Andy's phone. A minute later he was returning to the room. Allen was taking his turn.

Casey saw that Jeffery had a phone as he was walking up to her. She then asked, "Why do you have Andy's phone?"

Jeffery handed Casey her purse and said, "It has a missed call on it. I thought Andy would want to know."

The phone chirped again.

"All right, go give the phone to Andy."

As Jeffery was walking away, Casey opened her purse and got what she needed out. She then walked up to Chloe and handed it to her.

"Thanks you, you are a life saver," said Chloe.

"You're welcome."

Chloe turned and walked away.

When Andy was handed his phone he looked at the number. He then said, "Jeffery, thank you for giving me my phone, but I have a feeling that this miss call was a wrong number." Andy clipped his phone on his belt. "Jeffery, should we continue our game?"

"Yes," said Jeffery. He then walked over and picked up his paddle.

Beverly walked up to Casey and asked, "Casey, I will be fixing supper soon. Should I be expecting to set four extra plates?"

Casey gestured to Andy and said, "I think I should talk to Andy before I answered that."

"Of course, Dear."

Casey walked up to the ping-pong table as Jeffery and Andy were hitting the ball back and fourth.

Jeffery noticed Casey stepping up and said, "Casey, I'm getting good at ping-pong."

"I see that. You might become the next ping-pong champion in the US."

Jeffery missed the ball. He then said, "I'm not that good."

"If you practice a lot and do your best then you could become a champion at ping-pong."

"I just want to play for fun. I don't want to be a champion at this."

Casey grinned and said, "That's okay too. Andy, your grandma wants to know if we are staying for dinner."

"What do you want to do?" asked Andy.

"I have no previous plans for dinner, so we can stay; however, I do feel that I'm taking advantage of your grandparents' hospitality."

"Casey, my grandparents like you, Eve and Jeffery, so you are not taking an advantage of them."

"I can't help how I feel."

"That's because you are a nice person," said Andy. Casey grinned. "So are we staying?"

"We're staying. Well I've better let your grandma know to set four more places." Casey turned and waked away.