"Oh, Frank!" Callie said, seeing him approach. "This is Mrs. Lewis. She was just telling me about this girl she met last week."
"Oh?" Frank asked, looking at the plump Mrs. Lewis and quirking an eyebrow. The barely contained excitement in Callie's voice had not gone unnoticed.
"Why don't you tell Frank about her?" Callie suggested.
"This young girl, I don't know her name but she left not long before Callie got here, was at Bob's Plumbing World last week. When Jimmy, my husband, and I got to the shop, we are installing a second bathroom, you know. One just isn't enough for the two of us. Jimmy takes so long in there of the mornings I barely have time to get dressed myself. You know..."
"Mrs. Lewis," Callie interrupted her. "About the girl..."
"What? Oh, of course. She was nearly hysterical. She claimed she had to have her bathroom finished by Monday at the latest and even offered to double the agreed amount if it would be completed on time," Mrs. Lewis told Frank. "When I saw her in here just now, I asked if she had gotten her bathroom finished on time. I was just trying to be friendly but she looked down her nose a me and said she had no idea what I was talking about. Well, of course, I told her that I had seen her at Bob's Plumbing World. She made the nastiest face and told me what she did was no concern of mine and would I kindly mind my own business."
At this point Mrs. Lewis was once again worked up. "The nerve of the girl. I asked her a simple question and she treats me like public enemy number one. Not that I would know how that would feel, mind you, but I can imagine, you know. Molly Yates, a friend of mine, came along after she left and I was telling her about it when Callie stopped by and introduced herself and said she just had a run in with a girl outside and thought it might be the same person."
Mrs. Lewis paused for breath and shook her head. "I can't imagine how such a nice looking girl could be so rude. Didn't her parents teach her any manners? I mean..."
"She is something, all right," Frank broke in. He had the feeling Mrs. Lewis seldom stopped talking long enough to breathe. "One should definitely avoid her. Callie, we..uh... have to go. I have an appointment in a few minutes."
"Oh, right!" Callie said, smiling brightly at him for halting Mrs. Lewis' tirad and coming up with an excuse to leave. "It was nice meeting you," she added to Mrs. Lewis as Frank took Callie's arm and the two of them hurried away as Mrs. Lewis began talking to another unsuspecting shopper.
Outside, Frank pulled Callie into his arms and kissed her. "This is fantastic!" he exclaimed, his brown eyes shining. "If they fixed a bathroom for Angelic, they have to have an address."
"Let's go find out what it is," Callie said, grabbing Frank's hand and pulling him toward her car.
"Easy," Frank said, laughing. "Have you checked the time? No one's going to be there." He stopped beside the car, lost in thought. A minute later he looked at Callie. "Let's head over to Phil's."
"Okay," she agreed, climbing in behind the wheel as Frank got in the passenger side. "But why?"
"Maybe Phil can get into the files if they are computerized," he explained. "Or at least, come up with the name of the owner and a phone number."
After waiting fifteen minutes in the Cohen's driveway, Frank was ready to give up. For once, he understood his brother's impatience on stakeouts. Waiting was hell! "Let's swing by Mr. Pizza," he suggested. "We can grab something to eat and see if anyone knows where Phil might be."
"And if no one knows, we'll come back after dinner and wait until he gets home," Callie said, adding on to the plan.
They arrived at Mr. Pizza's to find the place packed. "I'd forgotten it was Friday," Callie said, looking around for an empty table or booth.
"That's understandable," Tony said, coming up to them with a pizza in his hands. "Follow me," he added. Tony led them over to the far side of the room where he set down the pizza at a crowded booth before heading left toward the back of the resteraunt where two tables had been pushed together. At them sat Chet, his date, Helen Mullins, Biff, Phil, and Phil's date, Sandy McGuire.
"Didn't expect to see you here tonight," Chet said as Frank and Callie sat down.
"We ran into Angelic," Callie said, shocking the gathered teens into silence. Tony hung around, ignoring the calls of customers while Callie detailed the encounter.
"Want me to see if I can access the plumbing records and get an address?" Phil inquired.
"Actually, we just came from you place to see if you could do just that," Frank admitted.
"It's no problem," Phil told Frank. "The sooner we get Joe back, the sooner we'll all feel better."
"Yeah, there's no telling what that psycho girl is doing to him," Helen commented.
"At least she won't try and kill him if she doesn't know we have on lead on where she's keeping him," Callie put in quickly for Frank's benefit.
"But there are worse things than dying," Helen stated. Chet closed his eyes. He loved Helen even though tact was a foreign concept to her.
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Joe sat up as Angelic entered the basement. He reached down and grabbed his tee shirt from the floor and slipped it on over his head. Dinner had been over for almost three hours. Angelic had stayed and listened to Joe tell her about the time he and Frank had gone hanggliding in Acapulco. She had listened with rapt attention and Joe had been so grateful for someone to interact with that he had forgotten it was Angelic's plan to get him to open up to her.
Now, he watched her curiously as she unlocked his cage, leaving the keys in their usual spot, and entered. "I thought you wouldn't be back until tomorrow," Joe said, feeling a bit uncomfortable as she went over to the bed and sat down. Her eyes almost shut, she stared at him through her long lashes as she smiled seductively at him. "Is.." Joe squeaked, then stopped and cleared his throat before continuing. "Is something wrong?"
"It's late," Angelic said. "You should be in bed."
"I'm not sleepy," Joe stated.
"Come on," urged Angelic, getting up and pulling down the spread. She fluffed both pillows and stood waiting.
"I'm..." he paused and swallowed. There was something about her that made him nervous. "I'm not sleepy," he managed to repeat.
Angelic pulled off her shirt, revealing a sexy black lace bra. "What..what are you doing?" demanded Joe over the growing lump in his throat.
"I'm sleeping with you tonight," Angelic informed him calmly.
"NO WAY!" Joe shouted, bug-eyed.
Angelic slid her skirt down and stood looking at Joe wearing nothing but her black lace bra and black lace bikini panties. "The longer it takes you to get into bed," she said, her hands going up to the clasp on the front of her bra, "the more I take off," she ended huskily.
