"Casey, we have a situation."

"What kind of situation?"

"Well, I'm not sure exactly. This guy, he showed up at the Orange Orange, and well, he knew things about me. Things that he shouldn't know."

"Did he threaten you?"

"No, he uh, asked me out. Anyways, we're not picking up any matches with the facial recognition software, and running a check on the name on his credit card turned up nothing. But then again, if this guy was dangerous, he probably wouldn't just hand us his real name on a platter like that."

"Did you notify the General?"

"Yes. She agreed with my decision."

"Which was?"

"Go on the date, but bring Chuck along somehow and see if he flashes on anything. And you get to hang around in the van again in case things get ugly."

"Lucky me. You know that's my idea of a fun Friday night." Casey's voice dripped with sarcasm, but there was actually a kernel of truth in that statement. Casey enjoyed the thrill of the chase, the excitement of stalking and catching his prey. It sure beat sitting at home and watching TV alone, or worse, monitoring Chuck's bedroom via hidden camera.

Sarah just smiled, a real smile this time, and left to go pull Chuck out of work at the Buy More.

--------

A couple hundred meters above them and to the left, Shawn was talking rapidly on his forest green iPhone as he paced around the BuyMore.

"Sorry Gus, I'm not going to be back in time to watch American Duos with you. You know the saying, hos before bros, right?"

"I'm pretty sure it's the other way around."

"I've heard it both ways. Anyways, I was on the way back from visiting Uncle Jack in Pasadena... you know he has a place out here now? So on my way back I decided to stop off for some froyo... can you believe they only have two different types, orange and vanilla? No pineapple! Clearly the people of Burbank aren't fans of delicious flavor. Now as I was saying, I have a date tonight."

"I'm sorry Shawn, you lost me at froyo. What's a froyo and what does this have to do with you having a date tonight?"

"Froyo, my friend, is a delicious concoction - yogurt chilled to the 32nd degree. As for the date, I used my psychic charms on the girl behind the counter."

"So you're going to just hang around in Burbank for the rest of the day so you can go on a date with a frozen yogurt chick you'll probably never see again?"

"Trust me, if you saw her, you'd understand..." Shawn's voice trailed off. Sarah had just entered the BuyMore. That was odd, the schedule behind the counter at the Orange Orange had said her shift didn't end until 7. Maybe she was on break? Shawn watched as Sarah approached an employee, grabbed his hand and whispered something in his ear, and then the two of them exited the store together.

"Shawn. Shawn! You still there?"

"Yeah. But I think my date tonight already has a boyfriend. Something's up, man."

"So I'll see you tonight for American Duos?"

"Don't be a silly gussyface. She'll be waiting for me tonight at 7. Can't let the lady down. Besides, there's something mysterious about her..."

"Fine, I get it - I'll Tivo the show for you. See you later." And with a click, Gus was gone, and Shawn was left to kill time at the BuyMore until 7, which he did by performing psychic readings for all of the sales associates and members of the Nerd Herd... all of them, except for the tall one with the grey tie and the muscular one in the green shirt that had disappeared earlier that afternoon.