Chapter Four
The hotel room door opened and Ralph and Pam came in.
"At least the police were already at the center," Pam commented.
Ralph walked around the bed and sat at the head of it. "Yes, but they were basically just crowd control. We were gone..." He checked his watch, "We were gone a little over an hour and they still didn't get everyone out of there."
"No one even seemed to realize that we were gone." Pam sat next to him. "And they've closed the convention for the rest of the day."
"Which means those guys will be back again tomorrow, probably madder and more dangerous to everyone there."
"The police should be there tomorrow, though..."
Ralph shook his head. "Even though Bill's a Fed, he knows alot about how the police work. There might be one additional security guard there. No, I'm wearing the suit tomorrow. We'll wait for those guys to come back and when they do, I know they'll be looking for us. We'll just let them grab us again and as soon as we're away from the crowd in there, I'll get the drop on them."
"And have at least one of them take us to their boss, Franklyn. You know, Ralph, that really bothers me. I could swear I've seen him somewhere before and I just can't remember."
"Did you hear anything about what their plans are?"
"No, nothing else. It either has something to do with the convention or the center itself."
Ralph sighed and winced slightly, still feeling the punch from earlier. "It couldn't be the convention itself. We're just a bunch of teachers. It's more than likely the center itself they're interested in. But why?"
"I don't know." Pam gave him a look. "Are you sure you're okay, Ralph? That guy really hit you hard."
Ralph grinned. "I think I'm just a little worn out from being flung around by those guys." He shook his head. "That, and I've realized that I rely on the suit a little too much. If I'd had it on today, I could've taken out those guys as soon as we left the building. Instead, we got hauled off, I was tied up and you were locked up. It struck me that I had to rely on just myself to get out of our bind and... I was worried. I'm just a teacher, not a Fed like Bill! I don't handle this stuff very well."
"You did today," Pam said.
Ralph gave her a dull glare. "You're just saying that..."
"No, I'm not, Ralph. I'm serious." She grinned. "I especially liked your trick to get away from the big guy, Steve. That was smart and quick thinking."
"I was lucky he didn't squash me!" Ralph laughed, which made him wince. "I was so scared that he would turn me into dog chow or something."
There were a few moments of silence before Pam spoke up again. "So, now what do we do? We've got the whole evening to ourselves."
"Dinner sounds good--"
Pam got up suddenly and went over to the table. She started rifling through the pamphlets she'd picked up the day before. She picked one up and turned back to Ralph. "I think I have just the thing."
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"How the hell could you let them get away!" Franklyn yelled.
His hired men stood around his desk, half hanging their heads while most of the others looked in some other direction.
"Now, all of you listen to me. You're going back to the convention center tomorrow and you're going to find them and bring them to me. Not only that, but I want you to rob those people blind! Today's fiasco isn't even going to stop that teachers' convention from continuing!" Franklyn paused, glaring at each of the men, whether they were looking at him or not, and most still weren't. "Get out of here," he finished in disgust.
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"Pamela, really, we could do this back at home!"
Pam was practically dragging Ralph through a mall parking lot. "Ralph, I've heard so many people talk about how much they love the Block at Orange and I figured this was the perfect opportunity to experience it first-hand! Besides, I want to do some shopping!" She gave him a grin.
"You know this wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I said dinner sounded good!" Ralph said, finally keeping up with her.
"I know that, hon. Last night's dinner was excellent. But that was your choice, and this is mine." Pam gave him a smile. "We've got the entire evening to ourselves. We may as well take advantage of it!"
Ralph returned the smile. "Okay, Pam, you're right.
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Ralph glanced over his shoulder at the sign behind him. He grinned. "Cafe Tu Tu Tango. Bill would have a field day with that."
Pam unfolded a map. "He won't hear about it, Ralph. Lets see... Oh, look at this! Burke Williams Day Spa!"
"A Day Spa? Pamela!"
"There's a surf shop almost right next to it."
Ralph paused a moment, before nodding. "Now that, I like. Shall we?"
"We shall," Pam agreed, then pointed to their left. "Down this way."
They walked down a concourse dubbed "The Strip" and first came to the Day Spa.
"How long do you think you'll be?" Ralph asked.
"Not as long as you'll be." She gave him a wink. "About thirty five minutes. When I get out, I'll find you."
Ralph grinned again. "Works for me." He gave her a kiss on the cheek, then headed around the corner to the Ron Jon Surf Shop.
As he came upon the store entrance, Ralph was greeted by a stand-up sign proclaiming "No Shirt, No Shoes... No Problem!" He grinned and entered the shop. It looked like a very large Woody station wagon, with the hard wood floors and wall paneling. Ralph glanced overhead and saw several old style model byplanes hanging from the ceiling. He liked this store... alot.
Ralph made his way over to some racks of t-shirts first, which were neatly pushed together, but not overly cramped. He looked through many shirts and looked at one that was a bright yellow.
While Ralph looked through the shirts, Joey and Mark entered the store. They went straight to the counter and, while Mark grabbed some snacks, Joey briefly chatted with a young woman at the register. Mark set the snacks down and ran two fingers over the smooth wood counter. The young woman rang up the snacks and finished speaking with Joey, who thanked her and they went to their left, over to another rack of t-shirts and pretended to look through them.
"He's across the store," Joey said.
Mark nodded. "When do we grab him?"
"We're just following them for now. We can grab them at the convention tomorrow."
"Right."
Ralph waded his way through the racks of t-shirts and made his way over to the large wooden racks of surf boards. He glimpsed one in particular, blue with a black stripe sandwiched between two thinner white stripes. He ran his fingers over the finish, then checked the price tag. His eye brows arched as he considered it.
The young woman from the counter walked over to Ralph, seeing that he was interested in the boards. "Hi, I'm Missy. Is there anything I can help you with?"
Ralph smiled. "Well, I was kind of browsing... but now I'm not so sure." He glanced at the blue board and fingered it again. "I really like this one, but I'm not so sure how my wife would like that I bought a surf board when I'm just looking because I didn't want to go into the Day Spa."
Missy smiled. "I don't think she'd mind very much. Besides, I can tell when someone's about to purchase a board and you've got that buying look in your eyes."
"Maybe that's just the reflection off the board," Ralph commented, looking at the board again. He had to admit that he really did want to purchase the surf board.
"How about this? I'll put a 'Sold' tag on it, you can go talk it over with your wife, then come back and let me know what you want to do."
Ralph turned back to her. "You could do that?"
She shrugged. "Sure. We do it all the time."
"That'd be great, thank you!" Ralph checked his watch. "I'm meeting her in about twenty five minutes."
Missy pulled out a tag and a marker. "No problem, uh..."
"Oh, sorry, my name's Ralph Hinkley."
Missy nodded and wrote his name on the tag, then pulled out a roll of Scotch tape and taped the tag to the board. "All set."
"Thank you again, Missy." They shook hands and Missy went back to the counter.
Ralph grinned, fingering the board once more. "I hope Pamela doesn't mind."
He continued around the store, looking at various items, all the while still oblivious to Joey and Mark watching him from a distance.
Ralph checked his watch again for the umpteenth time and headed for the entrance way. He was half way back to the Day Spa when Pam came out.
Joey and Mark also happened to leave the Surf Shop at the same time. They watched as the couple met up and spoke briefly.
Pam sighed. "Okay, hon, you can buy the surfboard, but lets finish looking around the mall first. When we get ready to leave, we'll come back and get it."
Ralph smiled. "Thanks, Pam!"
"You're just like an overgrown kid sometimes, you know that, Ralph?" Pam said, chuckling.
Ralph shrugged, then slung an arm around Pam's shoulders. "I try my best."
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Several hours later, Ralph and Pam were headed out to the parking lot, Ralph with the surf board tucked under an arm and a plastic bag in the other. Pam carried a handled, brown paper bag and a small plastic bag.
They began loading their things in the station wagon as Joey and Mark came out the same way they had. They crossed over to another aisle of parking and walked towards a dark blue pick up truck, which they then leaned against.
"Are we gonna follow them back to where ever they're staying?" Mark asked.
Joey shook his head. "No. We'll get them tomorrow."
Mark thought for a moment. "So... why were we following them, then?"
Joey rolled his eyes. "In case we had a chance to grab them! Or in case they decided to go to the cops." He paused. "Actually, I'm curious why they didn't go to the cops..."
Mark just nodded and the two men watched the station wagon pull out of its parking spot and head out of the lot.
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