Dedicated to Karen, my very own pee king chicken.
Ch. 11 "Pee King Chicken"
"Do you love me Jack?"
Although Grant usually left first names for serious issues, he just couldn't resist. Jack narrowed his eyes and prepared for either a really big or major (depends on who you talk to) discovery or one of Grant's famous "not funny when you're the victim" (and Jack often was) tricks. He was lucky this time because what Grant handed him did not have frosting and was handed to his hand, not his face.
He read the sheet of paper and the discovery put him in a good enough mood to actually joke back.
"I'm sorry Grant, but it would never work between us. You're just going to have to accept that and move on."
"I understand," Grant tried to reply in a serious voice, but failed miserably.
Before Grant could think up a slam back, Donaldson and the other men who had been doing research came over. Apparently Grant's discovery on the type of paper had been the only one.
"The ink isn't traceable. There are probably billions that have ink just like it," one reported.
"Ditto on the type of computer they used to print it," another informed.
"No finger prints at all," Donaldson said. "I hate it when the bad guys get us."
Grant smiled. "Not necessarily, gentleman. I hold here the location of the warehouse where the special paper was made," with finishing his sentence he made a bow.
"Cheeky," Donaldson said.
When Syd awoke the next morning she rushed downstairs to see her father, and was disappointed when he wasn't there. Her grandfather was still sleeping like a log, so she poured some cereal and puzzled over the mystery of the secret message. "It'd make a good title for a book," Sydney thought. She had just about finished her orange juice when the phone rang.
"Bristow residence," Sydney answered.
"Hello honey," her father said.
Sydney could barely hear him over the roar of what sounded like an airplane.
"Daddy" Sydney said, in a tone that meant "you better not be going off on a business trip and leaving me alone with grandpa."
"Sydney, something's come up and I need to go on a trip and you're going to have to stay with grandpa."
"GRRR!" Sydney thought.
"Dad does this have to do with the" Suddenly the line went dead.
"Sydney?" Jack yelled into the phone. His cell had gotten out of range.
Sydney slammed down the phone. How convenient for him to have to leave at a time such as this. Right when things were getting good. Meanwhile, what was she supposed to do with Mathew? She went into the guest room to wake him up.
"You have to get up, Grandpa. You have to drive me to school."
Jack owned two vehicles. He had a car and a van. He had driven the car to work and the van was still in the garage. Needless to say, Sydney was screaming before Mathew even drove the van out of the garage. First, he had forgotten to open the garage door and had almost backed into it. Once out of the garage, he almost took out their mailbox and a couple of their neighbors' mailboxes. He nearly collided with another van, car, and pickup truck that wasn't moving and that was all in the first block.
It had taken all of Sydney's training not to scream every time she thought she was about to die. When they finally made it to the school, she was just happy to be able to feel her feet on firm ground. Now she knew what the astronauts felt like. She walked into the school and headed straight to the bathroom to fix her hair, which she figured probably was stuck straight up and white. Mathew watched as she entered the school. "Didn't even say thank you," he complained.
As Sydney approached her locker Danny came up to her. "Syd," he started and then couldn't think of how to continue.
"I'm so sorry about Friday. Something came up with my dad andâ€it just wasn't the best time," Sydney tried to explain.
"I totally understand," Danny said. He totally didn't, but he also didn't want to be snoopy.
"I'd love to go out again," Sydney said, hoping she hadn't ruined her chances.
"Really?" Danny asked, his spirits picking up.
"Yeah," Sydney said smiling.
Danny smiled back.
"Highlander, this is Pee King Duck, can you hear me?"
"Affirmative."
"Move north along the building. Red Rover, do you copy?"
"I copy."
"Head west toward the storage facility."
BOOM! BOOM! All four agents were struck down dead.
"I hate this game," Will whined as he took his player off the board.
"Like you were going to win with a name like Roger Rabbit!" Francie exclaimed.
Francie, Syd, and Danny all laughed at Will's expense.
"Seriously Fran, Pee King Duck?" Will teased back.
"I want to be a cook, someday," Francie explained, trying to justify her answer.
"I think you're just chicken."
"Will," Sydney said, "pee king duck isn't a chicken, it's duck. Other wise it would be called pee king chicken.
The other three laughed again while Will blushed. Sydney was glad that they all were able to hang out together. It was a few days after the message had surfaced and yet her father still hadn't surfaced himself. She hadn't heard from him since he had called her about the trip. She was a little worried, but was having too much fun to dwell on it. Her grandfather was awesome. He practically let her do anything she wanted, as long as she ate her vegetables. She had invited Danny over that night to join her and Francie and Will's regular study group that was notorious for studying for fifteen minutes than doing anything and everything else the rest of the evening. They had already played Pictionary, Mars and Venus, and watched enough slap stick comedy to knock them brain dead. It was getting close to 11 and Mathew, who had fallen asleep, finally woke up and had a heart attack when he saw the clock.
"You little rascals didn't wake me up. Now your parents are going to have my hide," he scolded them.
Somehow, he managed to get them all home in one piece and not hit anything, but he did get a ticket for driving on the wrong side of the road. "What do those dumb cops know anyway?," he mumbled under his breath.
While Bristow Sr. was getting a lecture from a police officer, Jr. was across the Pacific stuck in a very uncomfortable position.
Thanks to all who updated!!!
To black ops: I love all reviews. Little ones, big ones, tall ones, short ones, funny ones, mean....ok maybe not all.
To surfy: If your English is bad I didn't even notice and I'm glad you love the story!
To sweetsouthernbell07: That was Lauren's one and only cameo. I'm not putting up with that faux British accent any longer than I have to. And you were in that twelve step program too? Were you the one with the southern accent and the "Mrs. Vaughn" t-shirt?
