"Did you tell him that Donnie was here?" Dad asked Charlie.

"I told him to wait a moment."

Dad sighed "Don is in no condition to talk to him. Say that he just went back out, on a lead"

"Dad..." I felt bad about doing that to Fullerton, it was his daughter!

"You're going to make an ass of yourself in the state you're in!" Dad turned to me. "Look at you! You made me take that crazy woman home..."

"Dad! I couldn't leave her to drive or be alone in her state!" I protested.

"You've spent half an hour channel surfing..." Dad continued

"I'll uh...say that you stepped out on a lead..." Charlie lamely said and got the phone.

"Uh...thanks buddy..." I told him.

Eventually, they went to bed. I was still up, when Dad came down the stairs freshly shaven. While I was a little less high, sleepiness had yet to come and I started to feel the beginnings of a headache.

"You're still up?" he asked me.

"Yeah.." I shrugged, still on the couch.

"Maybe some breakfast might help?" he offered, as I saw the worry on his face. I must look like hell.

"I'm not hungry, Dad, but thanks" I told him. Just then, the doorbell rang. I went to seewho it was.

"It's me, Antha!" a familiar voice said to my surprise from the other side of the door. Hope must have given her our address. My cousin had gone on her own to the house, on a few anniversaries, birthdays, and when Mom died.

"Hey! what's up?" I said upon opening the door.

"Antha!" Dad put on his host face. "It's uh..good to see you again!"

"I thought I'd come see how Don was" she told us, wearing a skull tee shirt, and short, dark skirt.

"Thanks for coming by." I said, and then continued. "I'm okay, though I havent' gone to bed."

At that moment, Charlie came into the living room.

"Hey buddy!" I greeted him. " You remember, Antha, right?"

"Yeah...hi!" he tried to hide his look of surprise.

"Why don't we all go to breakfast? My treat?" she offered. "I called in sick today"

" Don and I was just uh...about to make some, actually" Dad said, in host mode, though I could tell it was reluctant. "Would you like to join us ?"

"Sure!"

"We'll be right back with french toast" Dad smiled, and made his way towards the kitchen, I followed with an inward groan, knowing that he wanted to talk to me about her.

Soon we were in the kitchen, and he started to get all the ingrediants for the batter.

"Cut the bread slices in half, would ya?" he requested and I did so. After a fewmoments of silence, he remarked "Antha seems unpredictable, kinda like your old job..the one you pretend not to miss..."

"Dad.." I began.

"No need to argue" he said, while putting the ingrediants in a bowl and mixing them. "I was just making an observation"

"Of course" I said wrly.

"Remember your cousin Peter's ex wife?" he asked.

I nodded my head with an annoyed groan; I knew where this was going.

"We both know why he married her! He needed exictment in his life as an accountant!"

"Dad, I'm not Peter!" I argued.

"But you are bored with your life! Face it! this runaway case aside, the work does not exite you!" Dad turned on the stove and put the pan on it.

"I'm only taking dull cases until my reputation in the private sector grows!" I reminded him.

"Go see if your guest wants anything" Dad suggested.

"Sure..." I went to the dining room, where Charlie and Antha were talking.

"Hey guys! I was wondering if you wanted something to drink?"

"Coffee would be great!" Antha said with a smile.

"My Dad's gonna make some soon" I promised her.

Charlie looked pensive, as I sat next to him.

he whispered with concern"She said that you imagined a dismembered head singing the lumberjack song. Is that true?"

"It was no big deal..." I assured him, not that I blamed him for worrying.

"If Morlock did put acid in the cookies, you could get hallucinations at any time" he reminded me.

"Morlock did not put acid on the cookies!" Antha interupted us. Charlie raised an eyebrow in doubt.

However, he wisly decided to change the subject."Now that you called in sick, do you have any plans?"

"I'm getting a birthday present for Brian, a friend of mine, who's in the group."

"Oh..." Charlie seemed to struggle to keep a neutral face. This was the break I was looking for!

"Any idea of what you're gonna get him?" I asked. "Maybe I could help?"

"That would be great! I'm stuck on that!" she beamed, with a part of me feeling guilty.

"Sounds likea plan!" I said. "We'll have breakfast, and then go shopping!"

She smiled, and I looked forward to giving my client some good news by tonight.

TBC