Chapter 2 – If you call that stalking, you still have a lot to learn

Shawn didn't sleep overly well that night. By the time he arrived back at his apartment, after making sure the office was carefully locked, this body had overcome its temporal low and wasn't prepared to go to sleep anytime soon. So Shawn placed himself in front of the TV in his apartment, channel-surfing to distract himself from the thoughts about that strange boy who had broken into their office earlier.

What was really bugging him was that he didn't know why thoughts of the kid wouldn't let him alone. Growing up in a bigger city, it was unavoidable to become aware of the kids who didn't have a good start into life. Cruel as it sounded, after a while you really got used to the fact that it wasn't only middle-aged men and women who ended up on the streets. It didn't make the matter less sad, but it was just a part of life.

But Eric hadn't been a street kid. He had run away from home, that much Shawn was sure of. And kids who ran away had a reason for doing so. Eric had asked him about finding people, so probably the kid was searching for somebody, even though he had denied it. If Shawn was totally honest with himself, the boy was a mystery, and whenever he was faced with a mystery, Shawn couldn't help but try and solve it. It was his right, he figured, after all Eric had involved him the moment he had started rummaging around in the fridge at the office.

Come tomorrow morning, Shawn would go down to the police station and ask Juliet to let him access the missing persons files. If Eric had run away from home, surely his parents had filed a report about it. And once he found that, Shawn would know more.

He finally fell asleep twenty minutes into the rerun of Last Action Hero. But that didn't matter, after all he could watch the recording tomorrow. The office was locked, and the Tivo was safe.

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The next morning, Shawn arrived at the office at ten. He'd have been there earlier, but after having so much difficulties falling asleep, he had decided that a little sleep in was in order.

Gus, of course, was already there when Shawn stepped in through the door, and the glare he levelled at Shawn meant that something was up.

"Good morning", Shawn grumbled and took a seat behind his desk. Seeing that Gus' glare was still directed at him, he raised both eyebrows.

"All right, let's run through this again. It's not difficult, but maybe you need a little additional help. I say "good morning", upon which you have the opportunity to say "good morning" back to me, or you can simply smile and nod. But whatever you do, I have to tell you that glaring is considered kind of rude."

Gus rolled his eyes. "I'm not exactly in a cheerful mood this morning."

"No Fruit Loops for breakfast?"

"Nearly broke my neck when I slipped on that huge mayonnaise stain over there in the kitchen. Didn't know that getting a coffee could be that dangerous, but with you as a friend I should have known."

Right, that was what Shawn had forgotten. He had wanted to clean up the mayonnaise, but with Eric's sudden disappearing act he had all but forgotten about it.

"Sorry. Had a little accident with the mayonnaise jar last night and I got distracted."

"Well, in that case be glad that it was me who slipped on it and not a possible client."

"You let clients get their own coffee? Really Gus, I'd have thought your mother had taught you better manners."

Gus kept one eyebrow raised at his friend, but after a moment sighed and turned back to his laptop screen. Shawn realised that his friend was working hard to forget that the past minutes had even happened in favour of throwing a tantrum. So as not to interrupt that process Shawn went into the small kitchen to see if Gus had managed to put on the coffee maker despite his little mishap. He was lucky, and a few moments later he returned to his desk with a to-go cup of coffee in his hands.

"And what are you working on? We got a case?"

Gus shook his head. "No. I was just updating my client list. Why, do we have a case?"

Shawn shrugged. "Why don't we go to the police station to find out? They have to be working on something, and I haven't had the chance to tease Lassie in far too long."

"Shawn, you all but slammed into him during your vision yesterday morning."

Shawn raised an eyebrow. "Is it already that long? Come on, let's go."

Gus took his time in shutting down his computer and picking up his jacket. Shawn waited impatiently beside the car as Gus carefully locked the office door, show-off that he was.

Fifteen minutes later, the two friends were on their way into the police station. Shawn had to realise quickly that he seemed to be the only one in a cheerful mode here today. All right, so Gus was still secretly angry about the mayonnaise debacle, but that would be over and done with in about an hour or two. But everybody else in the station today seemed extremely busy and focussed on what they were doing.

Lassiter's and Juliet's desks were empty, but the door and blinds in Chief Vick's office were closed. Not that a little thing like closed blinds would have ever stopped Shawn. Completely ignoring the Chief's obvious desire for privacy, and utterly oblivious to the warning sounds Gus made, Shawn steered straight for the door and opened it up without bothering to knock.

Chief Vick was sitting behind her desk, with Lassiter and Juliet on the seats facing her. All three of them turned upon Shawn's abrupt entrance.

"Mr. Spencer…", Chief Vick started in her most venomous voice, but before she continued Shawn had put a hand to his temple, had his eyes closed and was stumbling into the room.

"I see…I see…", he shook his head and squinted his eyes shut tightly. "It doesn't matter what I see!"

"Now that is something we can finally agree on", Lassiter remarked dryly.

Shawn made a well calculated step to the side that had him brushing against Lassiter's chair and nearly knocking him off.

"Spencer!", Lassiter hissed, but Shawn cut him off.

"It's what I should see…what should be there! Something is missing. Missing scenes, missing shoes, missing people. Missing People!" Shawn opened his eyes abruptly, facing a still very irate Karen Vick. "The spirits want to tell me something about somebody who is missing. It is important."

"It's also very vague, Mr. Spencer." Her voice was determined.

Shawn cocked his head to the side and gave the Chief his best look of disbelief. "Chief Vick, I cannot control what the spirits tell me. Sometimes they show me clear pictures, sometimes only vague shadows. But when have they ever misled me, Chief? Don't we owe it to whatever crime might have happened to clear it up?"

Vick sighed. "Mr. Spencer, if you don't mind, we were in the middle of a conversation here. As long as you don't have anything specific to bring forth, I am afraid that your matter will have to wait."

Shawn sighed. "All I need is to have a look at the Missing Persons files from the past couple of weeks. I'm sure that the spirits will alert me to whatever is important."

Vick pointed her finger at the door, and indirectly at Gus, who was standing half behind Shawn in the doorway.

"Out, Mr. Spencer. Come back if you have something specific for us to work with, until then I am afraid there is nothing I can do for you."

Shawn stared at her for a long moment, but when it became obvious that she wouldn't relent, Shawn sighed dramatically and turned around.

"Come on Gus. Let's go back to the office."

"What? That's what you dragged me here for? Shawn, wait up!"

As Gus vanished out of the doorway, Chief Vick leaned back in her chair with a sigh. "Detective Lassiter, would you mind closing the door again? Thank you."

With a slight smirk, Lassiter got up and did just that.

Downstairs in the parking lot, Shawn was waiting next to Gus' car. And Gus didn't look all too happy when he approached.

"That was what you dragged me here for?", he repeated angrily as he opened the door. "So that you could ask Vick to have a look at the Missing Persons files? What's that got to do with anything? Are you working on a case without telling me about it?"

He angrily got into the car without paying attention to what his friend was doing. Shawn was about to follow, but then he saw something from the corner of his eye and hesitated, one foot already in the car.

He could have sworn he had seen the figure of a small boy standing beside the bushes on the other side of the road, but as soon as he lifted his head and focussed his gaze, the figure had gone. Nevertheless, Shawn was pretty sure. Small, scrawny, blue jeans and sweater, brown hair. Just a moment ago, Eric had been standing just across the street, watching him. Shawn didn't understand. Just yesterday evening, the boy had been scared out of his wits by the mere mentioning of the police, and today he was standing in plain sight of the police station, just to watch Shawn?

He didn't understand what was going on, and that thought was driving him mad.

"Shawn! Are you getting in the car or do you want to stay out? Because I don't have all day."

"Sure." His eyes still on the shrubbery on the other side of the road, Shawn got into the car and buckled his seatbelt.

Gus sped out onto the street with a little more vigour than would have been strictly necessary.

"So, when are you going to tell me what this is all about?"

"What what is all about?", Shawn asked back innocently.

"Shawn, don't play innocent with me. You had a reason why you wanted to go down to the police station."

"Yes, to get us a case."

Gus rolled his eyes. "No Shawn, not to get us just any case. You wanted a very specific case, otherwise you would not have asked to see the Missing Persons files. So, what are you working on?"

Shawn sighed and looked out of the window. "Nothing."

Gus drew a breath to let out another tirade, but Shawn waved him off. "No, just listen and let me explain. Do you remember that mayonnaise stain on our kitchen floor?"

"Vividly. In great detail. What about it?"

"Well, it might have gotten onto our floor because I caught an eleven year old runaway in our office yesterday evening."

That silenced Gus for a moment, but Shawn could clearly see it on his face as another question popped up in his head.

"How could you catch a kid in our office if you were there the entire time until you locked up and left?"

Shawn bit his lip, but there was no evading it anymore. "He might have gotten in because I forgot to lock up when I left the first time."

"Shawn!"

"I know, Gus. I'm not the paragon of responsibility. And I drove back as soon as I noticed what had happened, even though I was dead tired."

Gus breathed deeply a couple of times, and Shawn was wise enough not to interrupt his friend while he was trying to calm himself down.

"And what if the kid had been stealing the TV after you forgot to lock up?"

No, the breathing no longer seemed to be working for Gus. Shawn made a mental note to research calming techniques for his friend as soon as possible.

"The kid was far too small and scrawny to carry the TV. Besides, he was only hungry. I caught him while he tried to make himself a bagel. He was holding a jar of mayonnaise, not the contents of our safe. Not that we have a safe, by the way."

"We have talked about that Shawn. No safe. My name is on that lease, I won't let you tear any holes into our walls. Besides, they're dry walls, that wouldn't work anyway. And don't change the topic. What did the kid want, other than a sandwich?"

Shawn shrugged. "Not really anything. He was pretty scared that I'd call the police on him. In the end he told me some made up story about having lived on the streets for years."

"He didn't?", Gus asked, his curiosity peaked.

"Didn't look like it. He was too clean, too well behaved. And there wasn't any street-smartness about him when I caught him. He was practically begging me not to call the police, not at all like any kid that might have experience with the police. Besides, I pretty much told him that I had pegged him as a runaway, and the look in his eyes gave him away."

Gus nodded. "So you wanted to look at the Missing Persons files to find out who he was."

Shawn nodded. "Yes. And he hinted that he was searching for somebody here in the area. I don't think he's from Santa Barbara, which is why taking a peek into the hardcopies won't help me. I need computer access to the California wide Missing Persons database to find out who he is."

"Why are you going all those lengths? Now, don't get me wrong, I don't like the idea of an eleven year old out there at night, alone, either, but most probably you'll never see him again."

Shawn sighed. "I know. But still, it's bugging me."

There was nothing Gus could respond to that, so they drove the rest of the way in silence.

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After Chief Vick's refusal to give them a case, Gus spent the remaining day with taking care of the bills, making phone-calls, doing the paperwork for the Psych agency, and balancing the agency cheque book. Shawn spent the afternoon playing Space Invaders on the computer.

All in all it wasn't a bad afternoon, but Shawn knew exactly that they needed a new case, and soon. Not having anything to do was a dangerous state for him to be in, even Shawn himself knew that. He tended to get ideas when he had nothing else to occupy himself with, and while those ideas always seemed brilliant at the time, often they turned out to have…interesting consequences.

At half past four, Shawn's cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Shawn, it's me."

Shawn rolled his eyes. He hated it when people said that. Either they knew you recognised them by their voice, then "it's me" was totally unnecessary. Or they didn't know whether you recognised them by their voice or not, in which case "it's me" wasn't exactly helpful at identifying the speaker, either. Shawn hated it when people did that.

"Hey Dad", he said with fake cheerfulness. "What gives me the honour of your call on such a lovely afternoon?"

"Slow business, right?"

Shawn sighed and pressed "Pause" on the computer.

"We're in between cases. But I guess you're not calling to ask about that."

"No, actually I was calling to ask whether you'll come over for dinner tonight."

Shawn frowned. This was wrong. Off, somehow. His father didn't just invite him over for dinner, not if there wasn't something else he wanted.

"Does the lawn need moving?"

"No." Henry sounded slightly surprised.

"The roof needs fixing?"

"No." The surprise was ebbing away rapidly.

"Wait, I got it. You need something done that is dangerous. Or hazardous. I don't know, something involving lead-paint. Or asbestos. Is there a body you need to get rid of?"

"Shawn! I just want to invite my son over for dinner, no strings attached. Is that so hard to believe?"

"Well, actually yes. But I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I guess the answer is yes. What time?"

"Half past seven."

Shawn nodded, though his father couldn't see. "All right, I'll be there. You said no strings attached, right?"

"Half past seven", Henry repeated, then he hung up.

With a shake of his head, Shawn slowly hung up the phone.

"What's up?", Gus asked.

"Nothing. My dad just invited me over for dinner."

"Oh yes, that's harsh. I don't know how you can stand such a treatment." He shook his head. "Shawn, your Dad is a great cook. He invites you over for dinner, so what is there to worry about?"

Shawn shrugged. "Well, with my Dad, one never knows. You want to tag along?"

Gus shook his head. "No, thanks. I still need to prepare my round for tomorrow morning, I'd better head home and get to it."

Shawn nodded. "Sure. I'll see you tomorrow then, I guess."

Gus picked up his laptop and jacket and turned towards the door. "Yeah. See you tomorrow."

Gus left and Shawn went back to the Space Invaders. He still had a lot of time to kill before he had to leave for his Dad's house.

Maybe half an hour had passed since Gus had left, when Shawn got up in between two levels to get himself a soda. His personal record would fall today, but for that he needed some more nourishment.

As he turned around to walk back to his desk, he saw a shadow move hurriedly away from one of the windows. Again, he had only seen it for the fragment of a moment, but again he was sure he knew exactly who he had seen. He didn't know why exactly Eric was following him around, or why he didn't approach him, but he intended to find out.

The soda still in his hand, Shawn went over to the front door, opened it up and looked around. He carefully scanned the area and the people walking by, but there was no sign of Eric anywhere. But Shawn was sure that the kid was around somewhere, watching him. Well, two could play that game.

Shawn left the door slightly ajar and went back to his computer.

Sooner or later Eric would come to him if he truly wanted something, standing outside and yelling his name would only scare him away.

Shawn played another two levels of Space Invaders and was incredibly close to breaking his personal record when he distantly heard the sound of the office door closing. Shawn didn't look up from his computer, but he paid close attention to the sound of steps approaching.

"Hello Eric", he said, still without looking up from his computer screen, when he was sure that the steps had reached the office proper.

"Hey", a quiet voice answered.

Shawn pressed "Pause" on the keyboard and leaned back in his chair to look at the boy. Eric was standing shyly in the doorway of the room, wearing the same clothes he had the previous evening. He had his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans, and was staring down at his scuffed shoes as if they were the most interesting thing in the world.

"There's some pizza on the counter in the kitchen, if you want."

Eric didn't move, he only shoved his hands deeper into the pockets of his jeans. Shawn waited for a few moments, then he got up from his chair, went over into the kitchen where he grabbed the pizza box and another soda and returned into the office. He put the food and drink on Gus' empty desktop and gestured for Eric to sit down. Hesitantly, the boy did.

"It's sausage and peppers, hope you're not a vegetarian."

Eric picked up one of the slices of pizza and took a huge bite.

Shawn chuckled. "Guess you're not a vegetarian, then."

Eric wolfed down three slices of pizza and the can of soda in a matter of minutes, then he leaned back and stared around the office, not meeting Shawn's eyes.

"Why are you doing this?"

Shawn shrugged. "I figured that if you were that hungry yesterday, you'd be hungry today, too. After all, you did a lot of walking today."

Eric's head snapped up. "You saw me?"

Shawn grinned. "Psychic detective, we talked about that yesterday. I can't possibly tell you the tricks of the trade. But I do know that you were at the police station this morning, and then you followed me here again. Why didn't you come in earlier?"

Eric shrugged and busied himself with folding the lid of the pizza carton down in an orderly fashion. "I waited for the other guy to leave."

"The other guy? You mean Gus?"

"I don't know his name. The black guy."

"Yes, that's Gus. You don't need to worry about him, Eric. He's my best friend, and he knows that you were here yesterday."

Eric shrugged again, and Shawn slowly learned that for kids of Eric's age, that seemed to be a whole form of communication in itself. He picked up the pizza box and empty soda can and brought them into the kitchen. Eric looked startled when a new, full soda can was placed in front of him.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now, why don't you just go ahead and tell me why you've been following me around today. If there is anything you want me to help you with, you need to tell me."

"I thought the spirits told you that kind of stuff."

"Anybody ever tell you that you're a smart mouth?"

A dark look settled on Eric's face for a moment. "Yeah."

Shawn realised that he needed to steer the conversation back into safer waters before the boy clammed up entirely again.

"All right, let's just assume for one moment that the spirits haven't told me anything about you. So why don't you go ahead and do it."

"Why did you go to the police station this morning?"

Shawn raised both eyebrows. "I told you I'm working for them occasionally. I wanted to see whether they had a new case for Gus and me."

"Did you tell them about me?"

Shawn shook his head. "No. I didn't. And what should I have told them? There's a runaway in this city? There's nothing they could do about that, except maybe if you come running into the police station. And why were you following us?"

Eric shrugged again. "To see what you're doing all day. Didn't look as if a psychic detective had all that much to do. You played the computer for the entire afternoon."

Shawn grinned. "Normally, people go different about checking my credentials. But that's how it is when we don't have a case."

Eric took another sip of his soda and shifted uncomfortably in the chair. "You said you could find people."

Shawn nodded. "Yes. Why, do you want to hire me?"

Eric shook his head. "I don't have any money to hire you."

"You also aren't old enough to hire me. So why don't we forget about money and age for now and you simply tell me why you ran away and came to Santa Barbara. Maybe I can help you."

Eric shrugged again. "I'm searching for my Dad."

Shawn nodded. "All right. Can't be too hard to find him, Eric. Just give me his name and it shouldn't be a problem…"

Eric sighed. "I don't know his name."

"What do you mean, you don't know his name?"

"I don't know his name. Well, his last name in any case. I don't know my Dad, I've never seen him. I only know that he moved to Santa Barbara some years ago."

Shawn leaned back in his chair and crossed his hands behind his neck. "All right, why don't you tell me the whole story?"

That question was rewarded with another shrug. "Not much to tell. I've grown up with my Mom and her husband. But he's not my Dad. And when I told my Mom that I wanted to meet my real Dad, she told me that she didn't know where he was. So when I…well, when I couldn't stay with them anymore, I thought I'd come here and try to find him."

Shawn got the feeling that there was a lot more to the story as to why Eric thought he couldn't stay with his mother anymore, but he was also sure that prying wouldn't bring him any further now, either.

"There was absolutely nothing she could tell you about him?"

"I don't know." Another shrug. "Maybe she just didn't want to tell me more. All I know is that his first name is Collin. She said she didn't know his last name. He was in the Army twelve years ago, in Phoenix. That's where my Mom lived back then. She said he moved to Santa Barbara not long after they met. That's all I know."

Shawn ran his hand through his hair and frowned. "All right, I see how that can be difficult. What were you trying to do? Go through the phonebook and visit all Collins in the Santa Barbara area?"

Eric shrugged. "I don't know. I just…I want to find him. Do you think you can help me?"

"Sure. It might take a little while, though. What are you going to do in the meantime? Do you have a place to stay?"

Eric nodded quickly. "Sure. I…I have a place."
"Are you sure? Because there are ways of getting a place to stay for you, without involving the police."

Eric shook his head. "No, that's not necessary."

"And how am I supposed to reach you if I find out something?"

"I'll be around."

Shawn shook his head. "Eric, I don't like this. There is no need for this. You can stay at my place if you want, but I'd be more comfortable to be sure that you aren't out there alone."

"I'm not", Eric said and jumped up from his chair. "I'll be around, I promise. I'll come back tomorrow."

And he bolted for the back door. Shawn reacted immediately and hurried after him, but Eric was fast for a kid his age. Before Shawn had even rounded his desk, he had run through the back door and had vanished into the groups of people on the promenade.

For the second time in as many days, all Shawn could do was stand there and wonder what the boy's story was.