Before I knew it, we arrived at a Vietnamese restaurant. Elizabeth aka Hannah, was there! She wore a red tube top, and jeans. Physically, she looked okay, though she was a little thin for my liking. Brian sat next to her.
Hope made the introductions. "Hannah...Brian..this is Don, my cousin. He's joining our little group."
"I met Morlock last night" I added.
"He's really something else, isn't he?" Brian asked.
"Yeah..." I remarked, wondering about Megan and Coop's progress with that suspect. Then, I asked Elizabeth/Hannah "Have you been with the group long?"
"Not really" she told me with a shrug, which looked casual
"Antha tells me that you guys went to San Diego" I continued, but this time turned my attention to Brian.
"yeah we were" he said simply. Were they hiding something? The fact that he hadn't told my alto ego, Gigi Mann, about the trip, only encouraged my gut feeling.
"Did you guys do anything exciting?" I asked.
""We visited the city and had a good time" Brian replied vaguely, sipping some water. Soon, a waitress came to ask if we wanted something to drink. We all ordered something, and she excused herself.
The gang and I had lunch, then Elizabeth suggested "Why don't we go to my place? Watch a movie or something?"
"Sounds like a cool idea!" Antha said.
Man! If only all my cases at the bureau had been this easy! I kinda wanted to ask Elizabeth more questions, but I didn't want to seem too interested in her, or what she did with Brian in San Diego.
After eating, we went in a caravan of cars to Elizabeth's place. The apartment was an aged blue color, with the name 'Mayfair Manor' in dank, dirty, letters on a fake wooden sighn. Who did she live there with? How did she help with the rent? Soon, we were all inside. It was messy, clothes were all over the floor, empty cheetos bags lay on the coffee table, with its circle shaped stains, and books were on the couch. The living room was about half the size of the one in my old apartment. The TV, with was mid-sized, had both a VHS and DVD player. I had made sure to memorize the address.
"Why don't we watch Clockwork Orange?" Elizabeth suggested.
Antha asked me "Have you seen it?"
"No.." I admitted. Dad told me that it was a good movie, and he had seen it with mom one Friday when they left me with my grandmother.
"It's a great movie!" she beamed. "Let's watch it! I'll make the popcorn!" She ran into the kitchen. Looks like she visited often.
"Where the bathroom?" I asked Antha in a whisper, figuring I could explore the apartment that way.
"At the end of that hallway" She pointed to it.
"Thanks!" I smiled, and went on my way. Discreetly, I looked into the bedroom and noticed two beds, both unmade. This place reminded me of my dorm room on a bad day. Then, I went into the bathroom, and opened various drawers. I saw feminine products, such as woman's razors, tampons, kotexes, lady's perfumes, various makeup supplies. Also, there were condoms, shaving cream, and men's razors. Enough for a guy who just spends the occasional night. I hoped that it was for the roommate's boyfriend, unless of course, the roommate was underage as well. I opened the medicine cabinet, and saw the tell tale circle pack of the birth control pills, as well as doxepin, a sleeping medicine. I decided to go into the bedroom to see what else I could find, but Antha knocked on the door! Damn it!
"What's taking you so long? It's not like you had the spiciest thing on the menu! Maybe you should eat more yogurt!"
"You're uh...right!" I said quickly. "Give me one more minute."
"Hurry! The popcorn is gonna get cold!" I heard her walk away, and with a sigh, Soon, I joined the others.
To my annoyance, Elizabeth's roomate never showed up during the movie.
For a while after it ended, we all talked, then, citing a tail, I excused myself, figuring that Antha could find a ride among the others.
I drove the car several blocks away, then returned to the apartment, digital camera in hand, hiding nearby. Little by little the gang left. Then, Elizabeth went out of her apartment, and took a walk and I took some pictures, while following her. When she returned to the apartment. I took a picture of the apartment building. Deciding that Mr. Fullerton deserved a progress report by now, I went home to write it, despite my exhaustion and hangover.
I bought coffee and wrotethereportat Dad's work. Then, I called Mr. Fullerton, and we set up a meeting right away at some casual diner
"What have you got?" he asked anxiously, and I filled him in, as well as showed him the pictures.
"Your missing something" the man gave me a mean look after I finished.. "My daughter."
"Look, Mr. Fullerton, like I said ,I haven't been able to get her aloneand..I haven't gained her trust."
"And what?" he interupted me. "Haven't you grabbed people?"
"Yes I have….but.."
"But nothing! Several of the security guys at my company are ex-military. You can get their help. Besides, she's a minor, her mother has passed away, and you've got my permission to kidnap her."
"It's not that. I'm concerned that if we grab her too soon, she run away to parts unknown, maybe even with the help of that cult." I told him. "I promise you, she's fine, and I'll see to it that it stays that way."
"Then, I'll rent a cabin in the mountains, where you'll take her, and I'll get a deprogrammer up there. You'll make sure she doesn't run away." He argued. I didn't blame his impatience, I'd probably feel the same way, but there was a method to handling these things, which caused many a civilian to become worried and impatient.
"I don't know much about that cult, or what it does to those who try to leave. We don't know the resources they've got..."
"Figure that out on your own time! I just care about my daughter.!" he began to raise his voice. "You can't expect me to just leave my baby girl with a bunch of nuts!"
"Mr. Fullerton, I understand that you are worried, but we need to exercise caution..." I told him gently.
"How about I exercise my right to fire your ass if I don't get my daughter back right away?"
TBC