Chapter Five

The young child stood in the middle of the room. She was tired and wanted to go to bed.

"You're not concentrating." A disembodied voice came over the loudspeaker.

"I'm tired. I want to go to bed," the young girl whined.

Suddenly a door opened. The girl saw her friend walk in. He limped over to her, carefully kneeling in front of her. He placed his hands on her waist, a sad smile on his face.

"Just a little bit longer, sweetie. Can you hold on just a bit longer, for me?"

They child wanted to tell him, 'No'. She wanted to run out of the room, to run out of the building. Then she saw a shadow at the door. The shadow turned into a man. The man with dead eyes.

Trembling with fear, the child turned to her friend. She saw the same fear mirrored in his face.

"Will…will he hurt you again if…if I don't?" she whispered.

He didn't answer, he didn't have to. She could see it in his eyes, his stance. Standing tall, the girl gave her friend a determined look.

"Okay, I'm ready."

*brainchild*brainchild*brainchild*

Carolyn woke up with a start, gasping for breath. Turning on the small bedside lamp, she sat up in bed. Hugging her knees, she tried to get the image out of her head.

Dead eyes. Dead eyes. Dead eyes. Dead eyes.

Shivering with fright, Carolyn tried to think of something else.

"Think of something good. Think of something nice. Think of something else," Carolyn mumbled like a mantra.

She slowly began to rock back and forth; began to think about her day. Chet Morton's face came into view. His kind, sweet face. His soft brown eyes. His sweet smile. A small smile came to her lips.

She remembered that Chet had given her his cell phone number on the drive home. Checking the time, Carolyn saw that it was just past midnight.

"It's too late to be calling him." Carolyn sighed, but just the thought made her feel better.

Getting back under the covers, she turned off the lamp. With Chet still in her thoughts, Carolyn went to sleep.

*brainchild*brainchild*brainchild*

Under the street light on the corner of Elm and High Street stood a very ordinary looking man. He seemed to blend into the shadows as he watched the second house on the left.

Not for the first time did this man wonder if he had made the right choice by putting the Joneses here. He couldn't worry about that now, he needed to speak with Tyler. The girl had already caused a red flag to go up.

Making sure that he wasn't being followed, Arthur Gray crossed the street. Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed a secret number.

*brainchild*brainchild*brainchild*

Once again Joe Hardy was woken up by strange sounds. Voices this time. Joe looked out his window and could make out two men. Quietly lifting up his window, Joe tried to hear what they were saying.

Joe recognized one voice as belonging to Tyler Jones, Carolyn's uncle. The second voice eluded him, but Joe knew he had heard it before. Joe saw as Mr. Jones turn and go back into the house. The second man began to leave. Just then, the clouds cleared and the moon's soft light shone down on the second man.

Joe let out a surprised gasp.

"What's the Gray Man doing here? Better yet, what is Mr. Jones' involvement with him?"

Knowing he would never catch Mr. Gray, Joe ran into Frank's room.

"Frank! Frank wake up!"

Joe shook Frank, who finally opened his eyes.

"Joe," Frank mumbled. "What are you doing up before me?"

"Frank, you're not going to believe this. I just saw the Gray Man."

*endofchapter*endofchapter*

Authors Note:Please read the author's profile for this story. The author, copagirl, passed away in 2013. I am posting these stories up with the permission of her family, who want her to be remembered as well. Lola was a long-time member of the Hardy Detective Agency and we miss her soooooo much! Love you Lola!

Thanks to those of you leaving feedback! I know copagirl would love all of it.