His daughter has been acting very suspicious, or at least a bit off, for a while. He could not pin point the time she was being secretive or mischievous but it was happening for the past week, maybe two. Things were subtlety tipping him off, like talking to a friend on the phone and claiming it is Chane, but Ted said Chane never received any calls from Khan Jr. those days. And there were shredded letters in the trash, Mihn noticed when more and more strings appeared but lately, as if in fear of being caught, they "disappeared". The biggest tip off, and the one that made him wonder what is happening, was this "air" about her like when she was "dating" the hill billy redneck Bobby in secret, or when she was performing bluegrass behind his back.
Despite all these incriminating circumstances he sat back, Khan Jr.'s fifteen now and has learned to be more and more underhanded and secretive of her actions. Confronting her now would not solve this problem, she just hide whatever she is hiding better. No, there has to be evidence. The question is how to gain evidence, and from where? That is what he asked Mihn, as she looked down at her coffee while thinking of an answer.
"We can sit her down, talk to her rationally and we lock the doors then pressure her into telling us the truth," she said.
"Yes, that works."
"But Khannie has become crafty, and so we must be even more crafty," Mihn pushed away from the table as she took the mug with. Quickly dumping it into the sink she return to the table to cover the bases, something must be done soon.
Khan thought it over for an extended period, "aha!"
"What is it Khan?"
"I know how to investigate of this," he smiled as he stood up, pacing around the kitchen as he tells Mihn his plan. "It is very ingenious, surprisingly amazing and perhaps a plan that will grace the walls of my hall of fame. We will hire a private investigator, he will trail Khan Jr. all around and report back to me."
Mihn eyed Khan, he seemed very serious about this plan. The plan sound reasonable enough, if they were rich, Khannie was brain damaged and logic was thrown out the window for the sake of paying over 500 dollars for what they can do for free. "We'll make that plan B, but I have a better idea." Khan seem to lost most of his ego as he sat back down to pout. "Khan, don't pout, if it makes you feel better that is a very exciting plan, so good it would be wasted as a first plan. We'll do the basic plan first so we may use the great plan later on."
Khan shrugged as he moped, he shifted a bit before looking up at Mihn. "So what do you suggest?"
"I manage to snatch some of the shredded papers one day, we will piece some of them together and find out what is Khannie is doing." she went to retrieve a small plastic baggie of shredded paper, emptying it out onto the table Khan felt his eye twitch as he stared at the massive pile, it was the mount Everest of shredded documents. "Get sorting."
She told her parents she would be at the library, the truth was she was visiting her love interest. If her parents knew what was happening this they would flip out, and probably send her to some propitiatory/military school far, far away from here. Khannie wonder how did this happen and why does it work so well. Was it bottled up feelings and emotions? Perhaps it was they share the similar life style of perfection, by choice or by force they strive to be their best. Or maybe it was hormones, or could it be a mix of them all?
Why and the how was pointless now, this person made her happy. They click more then anyone else she had dated, there was an air about them when they got together. It was not the thrill of being taboo, or the chemistry of their bodies but it might be something deeper. Khannie smiled when she saw her love standing out in the front lawn.
With bright flash in the dark a cigarette was lit, he placed the pistol lighter back into its box as he eyed the security cameras. Boomhougher was sun tanning, nothing new there. Hank, on his lawn mower, was painstakingly tackling the edges of the front lawn. Inside Peggy was on the phone, and Bobby was upstairs with Joseph. Bill's house was, well Bill's house. Those did not interest him, except maybe Bill as there was a man dressed as Godzilla crushing many things before Bill as a woman with a Peggy mask taunts him. He primary focus was on the Laotian family, they were going through a large pile of shredded papers. He scoffed while mentally calling whoever had done that work amateurs, he personally shredded, burnt, mixed with several non dangerous chemicals before drinking the yummy concoction so the invading forces of the decepticons won't capture his trash and learn of his plans.
But he digress, the part of hiring a private investigator interested him. As a licensed and bounded bounty hunter he was practically qualified as a PI, only without the possibility of wounding someone, yet. But first he must devise a plan, it all came together on the spot. Reaching for his tape recorder he blow a few smoke rings before talking, "phase one, ascertain evidence. Phase two, give evidence to Khan. Phase three, be paid." he stopped for a moment before adding, "and get Jug-jug's special medicine."
They have been sorting for nearly two hours, there were breaks for papers cuts and the such but it was all paying off. They were letters, romantic letters in nature from what they can piece together. There was no name from the sender but it was pretty clear they were in this deep, there was mentions of making out in places like the locker room at Tom Laundry, whenever they are away or in the library reading room. The name of the sender's name is never present or even hinting toward whoever he is. Khan looked it over, "she must be grounded!"
"Khan," Mihn shot him a sharp look.
"No, first we lock her away, or send her to a Buddhist monastery away from men, maybe somewhere in Tibet. Then we lock her away in a room, a small room with use a violin and books and let her out when she is fifty."
"Khan, calm down. We must confront her in a different manner, then we will ship her off. And I have a plan on how to do so."
"But Mihn," Khan whined but trailed off.
"We must catch her in the act, so she cannot squirm her way out of it," she smiled a bit when she saw her husband nodding. "Then we hunt down the boy's parents and give them a tongue lashing of a life time, afterwards we'll send Khannie far away from here at an all girl school."
"How do we catch them?" he was silent a moment, before he smiled wickedly. "I got it, we pretend we are leaving for the entire week on an emergency trip, we wait a few blocks away and sneak back in to catch unscrupulous monster that seduced my daughter! Ha!"
"I like when you are underhanded, maybe while we wait." Khan raised a brow as he caught her drift but was brought back to the real world when the front door was open and closed, Mihn quickly disposed of the papers just as Khannie walked in. "Ah, Khan Jr., we were just talking about you. We have to go to an expo in Miami for my boss, it came so sudden and we must get to the airport tonight."
"We will be gone until Saturday, your father will leave enough money for important things like food and maybe an emergency," Mihn nodded. "You know the rules of staying home alone, I pack quickly."
"Remember, I have eyes and ears every," Khan said. "You miss practice I will know about it!" he left the room, everything was falling into place and soon he will know the identity of the pond scum trying to corrupt his little girl. After leaving Khan Jr. was on the phone, after inviting the person over she hung up just as her mother walked in with suitcases. They said their goodbyes before going out to the car, after pulling out of the driveway she watched them turn the corner and drive away. She smiled as now she has the whole house to herself for the rest of the week.
And a block away, passing Dale's dead bug van as he followed Khannie on his quest for the truth, Khan and Mihn pulled off to one side under some shady brush to play the waiting game. While playing a few others to pass the time.
Dale was on her trail, following not so closely to keep his cover. There were a few theories going through his head of what is happening, one of them are that Khannie had became a cyberneticically enhanced superhuman fighting being sent by the US government to stop the Shocker organization. The other is she is trying to keep an affair secret from her parents.
Ether way it was all good, he parked on the corner after passing Khan and Mihn without realizing it, here he played the waiting game. Now on a hundred degree day and being inside a non-air condition van is not a very good combination a long with Dale's stubborn attitude about these things it did not take long for him to feel like he was locked away in a sauna with Satan sitting right by his side. By the first hour he was panting and wavering back and forth, he used what strength he had left to open the back doors to let in some air. In doing so he missed someone riding on a bike toward the house, Dale went back to his seat and "noticed" nothing had changed. Feeling weak and a bit tired Dale decide maybe it was time for a nap.
They check the house every twenty to twenty-five minutes before going back to the car to "kill time", but after an hour there was a bike by their house. They waited at the corner, it was now time to move. Khan leading the way as Mihn was practicing a speech that was going through her head over and over again, Khan on the other hand was just going to act on emotion. He is pretty sure he can afford one murder.
They gave each other one final look, they were about to go inside and find out the truth. Mihn unlock the door silently, while Khan step forward he looked around to find the living room and the kitchen empty. A giggle from the back caught his attention, without thinking he dashed through the house. He threw open Khan Jr.'s bedroom door to find his daughter had her hands all the way up someone's shirt, their lips were locked and Khan Jr.'s pant was undone and sliding down.
Mihn followed behind, they finally became aware of them and were desperately trying to think of an excuse as they dressed themselves. She tried to focus on her speech but now it seemed so irrelevant now as the person's name came to mind. "Emily? Khannie? What. Going. Here. On?"
Khan's mind unlocked itself from the shock of finding his daughter with a girl, and he find the right word to say.
"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF"
"Heh heh heh, that has to be the loudest use of that word."
"Huh huh huh, you said that louder when you got your nads caught in the fryer, dumbass."
He was surrounded by darkness, his body was suspended by several cables attached to his limbs. The nerves were numbed and his limbs unmoving, he lifted his head as a large ball of light formed. It took on form of a large, metallic head of a powerful figure.
"Optimus Prime?"
"Hello Dale."
Dale shifted as much as he could, he was in the presence of one of the greatest bad asses there is, "what are you doing here?"
"Being a figment of your imagination." there was a long period of silent between the two, "so, how are you doing?"
"Fine, on a case. I can't remember but I was in my van, maybe it was a stack out or hunting UFOs." there was more silence. "Why am I here?"
"Heat stroke."
"Want to watch TV?"
"Sure," out of no where a TV appeared and Dale's favorite TV show came on. Out in the real world he was being rushed to the hospital as his family followed close by, Hank had found him laying passed out over the wheel. Everyone was tightly wound as the ambulance sped through the streets, Nancy Gribble Hicks was the most worried as she followed Hank's truck but her mind was so scattered Joseph had to catch the wheel several times and pull them off the wrong side of the road. She had to pull off for a moment to catch her breath and sort out her mind.
Back inside the mind of Dale, he was mingling among the heroes of history, past, present and future. Currently he was chatting it up with American Maid.
"Sex. Girl. Emily. My Daughter. Bluaghulelafgi." Khan was trying to speak to the Laotian girl sitting at the table as she sweat bullets, "this. Sense. Make. None. Gururuwalya."
"What your father is trying to say is, why are you two," Mihn was having trouble saying the last words. Swallowing hard she finish, "having relations?"
"What about Chane?" Khan manage to pull off some kind of miracle to speak, "did you ever think about the consequences this would have?"
"Chane Wasanasan would be very disappointed if you were dating someone else, he is your boyfriend." Mihn reminded Khannie, "say it with me, Chane Wasanasan is my boyfriend."
"Chane Wasanasan is a boring know it all that treat everyone like dirt and is a blathering idiot. You just want to pawn me off onto him because of his father," Khannie snapped. "Why must I suffer? I just want to date someone I at least like."
"Because we are trying to provide a good life for you," Mihn stared hard at her daughter who stared back. "Chane is one of the few Laotian boys in Arlen, and he is rich."
"And he's a louse!" Khannie shout out of her chair so fast the chair fell backwards, "you never been with him more then a few minutes when he puts on that act, he is rude, mean and is constantly trying to cope a feel every time I turn away. Chane Wasanasan is one of the greatest jerks there is on the face of the planet."
"You do not mind when Emily copes a feel."
"Because I actually feel something with her," Khannie shouted. She stormed out of the kitchen, Mihn and Khan were hot on her heels trying to get her to sit back down. They succeeded in sending her out the door.