Chapter Four:

I took Winter down to the beach. He kept his shirt on but stripped down to his shorts. He joined me in the water. He shivered. "Oh! It is nice and cold."

"Did you remember to put sunscreen on?"

"I think so." Winter smelled himself. "Nope! I didn't!" he scurried out of the water.

I shook my head in amusement. Winter coated his arms and legs in it. He then rejoined me in the water. "Done."

"I honestly hope you don't end up giving yourself a wicked sunburn elsewhere."

"I doubt it. I'm not that pasty."

"I don't know. You look pretty pasty to me." I mused. "You almost blend in with the sand."

"I didn't choose to be born white." scoffed Winter.

I held him from behind. "I know you didn't. There's nothing wrong with being pasty. I just don't want you to get burned like last time."

He turned to face me. "You worry too much." He tapped my nose gently. "Ease up. I'll be fine."

I kissed his cheek before dunking him into the water. I took off running. Winter surfaced. "Oi! Come back here you bugger!" he shouted.

He chased me further down the shore. I dove into the deep part of the water. I started swimming out towards the middle of the ocean. Winter struggled. He wasn't as good as a swimmer as I was. The current brushed up against his ankles. He shrieked as he fell backwards in the water. "Winter!" I shouted.

I watched as Winter scrambled to get over to me but the current had caught him. I quickly swam towards him. I wrapped my arm around his waist. I dragged him towards the shore. The both of us sat panting on the beach. "S-sorry." he said sheepishly.

"It's fine. I was worried I would have to call your dad." I panted.

"The last thing I want is for my dad to leave the station to have to help my dumb ass." grumbled Winter.

We heard a car suddenly pass us on the beach. It was a bright white color. It looked to have something in a tarp above it. I frowned. "That doesn't look right."

Winter looked over his shoulder. "You're right. It doesn't. Maybe they are setting up some sort of event?"

"Not sure. A part of me wants to follow them."

"Maybe we should mention to Sergent Ravani tomorrow? I mean it is our day off."

"You're right. Let's just let them be for now. It's probably nothing."

I could feel my investigator senses tingling. Something just didn't feel right all of a sudden.

Winter and I returned home. Winter whined as he touched his shoulder. "Yuck. I think I did get sunburned."

"Oh dear. I told you that you should of taken care of the other parts of yourself."

"Well I guess I have a learning curve then, don't I?"

"Take off your shirt, ya goober. I'll put the aloe on your sunburn."

Winter pulled his shirt off. I grabbed the aloe from the cupboard. I gently put some on his burn. He hummed softly. "That feels a thousand times better."

"I'm glad." I put the aloe on the counter. He put his shirt back on.

The late night hours came. I cuddled with Winter on our bed. I stared up at the roof. For some reason I couldn't get to sleep. I blinked tiredly. Maybe I just need to take a walk? I thought. Perhaps I have way too much energy.

I gently covered Winter up in the blankets. I changed into my casual clothing before leaving the house. The night air hung. I could hear the crickets chirping in the grass. I began to sweat from the humidity. I took off my shirt. I tied it around my waist. It still didn't make much of a difference. Ick. Now I have to take another shower when I get back. I grumbled in the back of my head.

I jogged down to the beach. The moonlight touched the surface of the water. I followed the shoreline towards the cliffs when a bright light caught my attention. I paused for a moment. I squatted down behind one of the rocks. The light shined again. A figure walked towards the cave that was close by.

I watched the figure carefully. The last of their form disappeared inside the cave. Floodlights suddenly shined on. I backed up slowly from the rock I was hiding behind. Something told me that I needed to get lost before they spotted me. I snapped a couple of pictures with my phone before running back to the quay.

I tucked my hands into my pockets. Who was that? Who would be operating floodlights this late at night? I decided to wait to talk to Sergent Ravani the next morning.

We arrived at the station the next morning. The questions from last night were burning in the back of my head. "Sergent, there's something I need to tell you."

"Go ahead."

"I spotted some weird activity near the cliffs last night." I plugged my phone up to the Map Screen 7000. The images I took appeared on screen. Rose frowned. She waved her hand. She put each one of them up in a row.

"This is unusual. You said this started happening last night?"

I nodded. "I only found out because I was jogging along the beach. I was going to investigate inside but they were patrolling too close for comfort." I explained.

"I see. It's a good thing you didn't get too close then. Who knows if they were armed. Good work, PC Malcolm. I'll put the word out. In the mean time, I want you and Officer Price today to investigate that cave."

"Rodger that, Sergent. C'mon Winter."

Winter nodded. "Right behind you, Constable."

We headed down to the cliffs. We both hid behind a rock, watching the front of the cave closely. I took out a pair of binoculars. I could see two figures moving under the cover of darkness. "What do you see?" asked Winter quietly.

"There's somebody in there. I can't see much with how dark it is." I whispered.

"Should I get a closer look?"

I shook my head. "I don't want you to accidentally alert them. I've got a better idea."

I walked over to my ATV. I reached into the large white box and pulled out a small cylinder. The cylinder had a camera on the front of it. I chucked it in front of the rock. Wheels popped out the sides of the cylinder. I took out my phone. The device was a small camera drone. I started to pilot it towards the front of the cave.

The night vision inside of the camera clicked on. I now had a full view of what was going on. There were two figures inside of the cave. They looked to be assembling something. I moved the drone close to the thing they were working on. The object was covered in a large white tarp. I frowned. I put the drone behind one of the crates. I activated the microphone. I heard a female voice come through the drone. So we've got the Sparkesmaster battery, I think we're just about ready to-

I heard what sounded like slurping come through the microphone. I let out an annoyed groan. I tried to continue listening.

Will you please stop slurping?

Sorry...

Ow! Ow! Ow! BRAIN FREEZE! BRAIN FREEZE! OW!

You need to have a brain before you can freeze it, Crompton. Now, where was I? Oh right. With the power from the Sparksmaster, my new super rescue suit will be one of the greatest inventions ever made. I will be a billionaire!

Owww...Billionaire...

Now we just need to test in an emergency situation.

"Well that doesn't sound too bad." muttered Winter.

I shushed him and continued listening. So, I need you to go out and start a fire. I'll show up in my super rescue suit and save the day.

I frowned. "It was okay until that point. We need to warn the station." I piloted the drone out of the cave. I picked it up off the ground. "C'mon."

We headed back to the station. Rose waited for us. "What have you learned?"

"We found two suspects at the beach. It looked like they were planning on testing an invention in an on-purpose rescue mission."

"I see. I'll call Station Officer Steele and let him know. You boys be on high alert."

"Rodger that."