George turned to leave, setting his sights on the door. Ideas of places to look were running through his mind. The door slipped open easily and the bright sunlight forced him to shield his eyes. It was really a beautiful day out. Birds were chirping, fountains spraying water, and students lounging on the grounds. George couldn't be completely cheery though, he had to find a way to get into Greg's office.
"Now that was going to be a feat and a half. Somehow, I had to convince the doctor himself to let me into his confidential office to poke around for something that he probably stolen or leads to something in which he was probably involved. I was certain I was going to have to think of something other than dressing up as a Girl Scout selling cookies. Although, I wondered if I could make that work…."
Subconsciously, George made his way through the campus, not completely paying attention to what was going on around him. He managed to dodge students and the occasional Frisbee or football, but he still didn't know where he was going. After seemingly forever, George found his way to the library and walked inside. The quiet atmosphere would help him concentrate, he assumed. As he was pacing through the rows and rows of books lined up neatly, he looked at some of the covers.
The Weary Blues, The Black Cat, The Metamorphosis, The Heart of Darkness. George was impressed with the selection available to the students. He even stopped and picked one up to flip through.
"Enjoying yourself?" A feminine voice came from behind him.
Without looking up, George replied. "Oh, very much so-"
He recognized the voice. As he began to turn, a fist slammed deep into his stomach the air was instantly knocked from his lungs. The other hand clamped down on his throat and pushed him up against a nearby wall. George was breathing heavily and struggling to free himself from the woman's grasp. It was all in vain, the woman had a strong grip on George's other arm and twisted it so he could not move it. Pain shot up his arm and the woman stifled a cry using the hand at his throat.
"So, George, we meet again. What are you doing here? Asking around about the good doctor? D'ya know something? Something you might like to share with me?"
George tried to talk but he no words would come forth. A few grunts and groans escaped.
"Oh? Still nothing? Well seeing as how you're here you must know something." She loosened her grip on his throat slightly. "Why'd you do that George? Why'd you copy the documents?"
George coughed before trying to talk again. "I have a job to do and I intend on doing it. I never let my cases get the better of me, even if there's some agency trying to steal my work."
Rita brought her knee up into George's side; he coughed and yelped with the surprise of the blow. "Big words coming from a man who's not in the position to piss me off right now. I could haul yer ass in for endangering this investigation. You know, now that Greg knows you've been asking around, there's not a snowball's chance in hell that we can get to him by any civil means."
"By civil you mean you can't force him to let you in, with big words and a shiny badge." George smirked; proud that he was still bucking the law in the face of adversity. Rita had none of it; she pushed his head against the wall and released him. A loud thud echoed through the library as George's head clunked against the wall.
"So, how exactly were you going to get in then?" Rita folded her arms, letting George rub his forehead.
"I haven't thought up a plan yet, but when I do you better believe it's going to be a good one."
"And you're in the library browsing books why?" She extended one arm at the elbow in a questioning manner before placing her hands on her hips. "Doesn't seem like you'll get very far in here with just a bunch of old books that have fancy print."
"For some reason, I think I might be able to find some way up there in here. Maybe a blueprint of the school or some way to gain access to a place that has the blueprints." George was exhausted and he was grasping at straws, hoping one would lead him to Greg's office. He looked at Rita, praying she would chime in, give him something that would make him think of a solution. She only returned a blank stare.
"Excuse me…is everything alright?" An elderly woman stood in the opening between two shelves of books. She had thick glasses and a long skirt that went down to her knees, the archetype of a librarian if there ever was one. George looked at her and nodded. She smiled, "Then can you please keep it down, I have students that I need to help find things for".
"I had to stop and think; what was I going to do? How was I going to get up into that office? I needed to find a blueprint of this building and fast."
"Oh, excuse me." George said, trying to catch the librarian's attention. "Could you help me find something?"
"Are you a student?" She asked, adjusting her glasses, trying to eye up George. "Or a teacher at that."
"Well, no not really."
"Not really?" She put her hand on a hip and raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner. "So, what are you then?"
"We're on official gov-" Rita started in, but was cut off by George.
"My dear lady, why I'm on an assignment by Doctor Greg Solomon." George said, coming closer to the woman.
"Doctor Solomon? He barely comes out of his office, I don't believe you."
George stroked his chin before continuing. "Why do you think I'm here? He can't be bothered by coming down here himself. I run all of his errands and on this occasion it has brought me to your lovely place of work."
She hesitated a moment, considering his story but put a scowl on, "I'm sorry, but the library is for student and teacher purposes only. If the doctor wants something, he will have to give you a letter or come down himself." She shifted her gait and began to leave.
Rita began to reach into her coat to retrieve something. George saw it was a badge, but forcing the issue wasn't going to help. He pushed her hand back and walked in front of the old woman. "Oh, please, won't you make an exception just this once?"
Her scowl deepened, "I'm sorry Mister…"
"Hamilton, George Hamilton at your service." George bowed before her.
"Well, Mr. Hamilton, I'm afraid I can't make any exceptions even if you are who you claim you are. Doctor Solomon knows that and should've sent you with a letter of some sort."
"Pretty woman like yourself shouldn't scowl so much, it ruins your complexion. However, I guess I will have to go get a note from the good doctor. It will deeply distress him though."
"Yes, well thank you for the compliment but you should've gotten a note first."
"It wasn't a compliment but the truth my dear." George brushed a strand of hair out of the woman's face. "I guess I will be going now, I expect I will see you soon."
The woman watched as George turned to leave. "I suppose it is a far way to walk, why don't I just give him a call?"
"That would be kind, but Doctor Solomon is conducting an important experiment at the moment and cannot be disturbed."
"Oh, that's a pity."
George started to turn, but stopped. "There is, however, one person you might be able to call. Peter Jenkins, he works with Doctor Solomon."
Her face brightened, "Yes, I know Peter well. I can give him a ring and see what's up and then we can just let you get on your way with what you need." She raced off to the counter and walked behind the small swinging door. The phone made a ding as she picked it up and began dialing Peter's extension. The cord began to twist between her fingers as she played with it while waiting.
"Ah, hello, Peter? It's Amelia, yes from the library. I have a George Hamilton here saying he's on an errand from Doctor Solomon, can you confirm this? Oh, you can? He is? Alright, thank you, sorry for the inconvenience. Okay, I'll talk to you later. Bye."
Amelia hung up the phone and looked to George. " Okay, all confirmed, what was it you were looking for?"
"Well, Amelia –beautiful name by the way- I was looking for a blueprint of the school, namely around Doctor Solomon's office."
She bit her lip and looked around the library, pulling up a mental catalog of everything in the room. "Hm, I think we have those upstairs. Usually the engineering students like to look at those, although I haven't had any students in here recently." Amelia led them up the circular stairs into a well-kept archive of all the newspaper articles and everything that cannot be classified as a book. The old woman crept through the library, winding up and down the rows of shelves until she found the one she wanted. "Ah, here it is."
Amelia pulled out a large binder about the size of a small table. With a great huff, she placed the binder on a nearby desk and opened it for George. "I believe this is the Doctor's office riiiiight here."
Her bony finger pointed towards the upper right side of one of the pages. She circled the area before taking her finger away so George could see. "Do you need anything else?"
George shook his head and thanked the woman. As she passed by, she whispered in his ear. "I'm glad you know flattery gets you places in this world." When she was leaving she pinched George's behind, causing him to jump a little.
Rita didn't seem to notice because she was completely absorbed in the blue print. "Okay, see this right here?" She pointed to an air duct near the lab. "We can probably get in through here, hopefully he doesn't have any actual security besides the ones the school has."
"Well, what about that security?" George asked while considering the plan.
"This little badge will take care of that problem easily. Now, I want you to understand. I don't care about that thing you're looking for as much as I care about apprehending Doctor Solomon. So, when we get up there, I arrest him, and you can get whatever it is you're looking for, got it?"
George nodded his understanding. Rita began to go over the plan with George.
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Doctor Greg Solomon walked around his lab, tinkering with random objects, trying to find the reason his experiment wasn't working. Nothing he had tried in the past seemed to work. The tube before him stood tall, an obelisk of failure, laughing at him every time he looked upon its glassy exterior. The test subject inside floated with tubes attached to its every orifice. Greg picked up a ball and threw it up into the air, letting it fall back into his hand.
"It was only a matter of time before that gum shoe found where I was. I won't let him ruin my research; I won't let him stop my creation." Greg placed the ball back on his desk and walked to the glass tube. He touched the cold tube, rubbing it with his thumb like a mother would rub her baby. "My masterpiece will be finished."
"Uh, doctor?" A broad shouldered grunt walked in, knocking on the door. "There have been some sightings of that man you asked us to look for."
"Good and the woman is with him?" Greg asked without looking away from the tube.
"Yes doctor. They are both in the library as we speak." The man looked uncomfortable.
"The library? What are they doing in the library?"
"Well, I don't actually know. They've been in there for a little while; all we know is that they are on the second floor, huddled over a table."
"Then, what do you think you should do about it?"
"We…we should find out?"
"Good now don't just say it, do it." Greg finally turned from the tube to look at the man as he nodded and left. "I need to remember to shoot that man."
-------------------------------
George looked at Rita, after she was done explaining the plan. He shut the binder and put it back on the shelf. As they got ready to leave, a man walked up to them.
"Hello, can I help you with anything?" He stood, towering over them both. Rita looked at him and quickly brushed him off.
"No, we're just leaving", She said as she wiggled her way around him. George followed suit, pushing past the man.
"Can I see your identification then?" He grabbed both of their arms. Rita turned around and kicked the man in the knee. A loud pop and then a crack confirmed that she had broken his knee and part of his leg. The man screamed out and collapsed on the ground, allowing the two to run away.
"Why the hell did you do that?" George screamed out as Rita dragged him along the rows of shelves to the stairs.
"Don't you think Greg has people all around this campus? Don't you think that he would send them after us?" Rita was taking the steps two at a time with George right behind her.
"He was only asking for some identification." George breathed out.
"Are you that stupid? Why wouldn't he have talked to us when we first got there if he really wanted to see some I.D.?"
"She had a point, but I wasn't going to let her just go around injuring everyone who tried to stop us. We had to find another way to go about this. We weren't going to get far breaking legs every time someone stopped us."
"Fine, but we need to find another way of doing this; the entire campus will be after us if you keep doing that."
Rita shot George a glare, "Alright, you take care of the next grunt that wants to kill us."
George understood her remark, but kept moving until they got to the entrance to the library. The old woman smiled, "So, did you find what you needed?"
Rita, wouldn't stop, "Yes, thank you beautiful, I did". George said with a wink, watching the woman blush as he left.
"Okay Casanova, we have to go back to the entrance hall and get into the professor's recreation room."
Rita finally slowed enough for George to match her pace. They made their way back through the campus until they reached the entrance hall again.
"Look, if you have to work that same crap again, warn me first so I have a chance not to shoot myself." Rita said as she pushed open the door for George.
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Doctor Solomon slammed his fist on the table in excitement. He finally figured it out, the answer to the riddle that was plaguing him for months, the answer that would allow him to complete his ultimate creation. Now, no one could stand in his way of realizing his full potential.
He took the needle he had filled up a few seconds ago, and walked over to the tube. Slowly, he injected the solution into the intravenous drip. The creature's eyelids pushed together, its brow drew down in consternation, but nothing happened. Greg knew it would take some time, but didn't know how long.
"Doctor!" The same grunt came running into his office. "They've escaped into the campus, we can't find them anywhere."
"Ridiculous!" Greg said before he reached into his back pocket and withdrew a pistol. "I want you to find them, and find them fast!"
"Yessir!" The grunt started to run away. Greg took aim and shot the man in the back five times. He dropped down to his knees, gasping for air. Loudly, he collapsed to the ground with a pool of blood forming around his dead body. Doctor Solomon casually walked over to the man and shot him once more in the head. It was the price of failure under Greg's ranks, he knew it coming into his position, and he knew it before he died.
"Samuelson," Greg said as turned back to his office. Another man, who looked almost identical to the dead man came running instantly. "Did you hear what I told him?"
"Yes I did doctor."
"Good, then I want it taken care of, and you already know what happened to your predecessor. Do not fail me."
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George closed the door behind him quietly, it was by pure luck that he was able to talk their way into the professor's recreation lounge. Rita pulled out the blueprint and looked for where the air duct was. She ran her hand along the wall, knocking on it. She listened as she went until she heard a metallic thud.
"Here" Was all she said before walking away.
"I thought it would be more of an opening than a solid-"
"Coming through." Rita took a metal chair from a nearby table and slammed it hard into the wall. The wall erupted in a medley of loud bangs and chunks of plasterboard.
"What the hell!" George screamed in a whisper. Rita had damaged the wall enough to rip out the rest of the wall by hand. She put down the chair without answering George and began to tear apart the wall near where the opening of the old air duct used to be.
"To answer your question, if you could tell from the blueprint, this building has been remodeled. No doubt, they didn't feel like ripping out the air duct, so they just put a drop wall in front of it." Rita strained as she ripped off one final large piece of the wall.
With everything out of the way, Rita brushed off some excess wall while George reassured the receptionist that he had just fallen over the chair. With a click, Rita had her flashlight out and was already crawling up the air duct. George turned just in time to see the bottom half of Rita wiggling through the opening.
"Hey! Wait for me."
"This dame was determined and I knew if I wasn't on the ball, then my case would go caput because of her."
George waited until Rita was completely in the duct before crawling in after her, with his own flashlight on. The duct was claustrophobic at best and a coffin at worst. To say it was difficult to move was an understatement. George's shoulders were clamped between the sides of the duct and were actually keeping him from falling. Rita moved much easier though and was making way faster than George. He strained to catch up, but knew he wouldn't be able to.
"Rita, wait."
"Climb faster." Rita breathed out before being swallowed by the dark.
"I was beginning to get a feeling that she didn't like me very much. Rita couldn't care less if I had gotten out of that duct alive, and even less if I finished my case. However, I was determined to get through this duct, so I pushed on harder."
It seemed like the space was getting smaller with every inch he climbed, but George knew better. He mentally reassured himself that he was going to get out soon; it didn't help when drawing a breath became hard. The flashlight did little to illuminate his path, but helped to keep his mind at ease.
The endless climb up, ended abruptly when George hit his head on the metal casing of the air duct. He bent at the waist and pulled himself through the next part of the vent. The flashlight slipped from his hand and was sent hurtling down the ventilation shaft, banging against the walls as it fell.
"This wasn't good; I was in a dark shaft without a light and no idea where to go. The whole situation was becoming very disorienting, but my only option was to press on. I couldn't just sit there and hope something happened, so I forced my body to move, to push myself further."
George slowly made his way in the dark, feeling along the shaft for some opening. He crawled straight through until he came to a turn; he had to serpentine his body to make the turn. His body was overheating from the effort it took to pull his body through the duct. He loosened his tie and unbuttoned a few buttons on his shirt. George had to pull himself further and further into the darkness. With no sense of time, it seemed like the crawl was taking ages. Sweat beaded on his fore head, sliding down his face and dripping off his chin.
"It was like an oven in those ducts. I had no idea why it was so hot, but I thought I was going to melt or become a nice suckling George. My mind was becoming a haze of worrying if I was going to live and the need to drive myself forward."
He found another corner and turned that one as well. Was he going in circles? Where was he? If only Rita hadn't left him, he would still have a light to use. Rita, she was the one who noticed the duct in the first place, maybe this was her idea. Maybe she was really just trying to lure him in here to kill him discreetly. It's possible, he was getting in the way of the agency, and they can't have someone in the way of their investigation.
Panic splashed over George like a tidal wave. He became frantic, his breathing raced, his heart beat faster, his blood vessels contracted. Hyperventilation set in, he was going to die, and it was all Rita's fault. The woman led him to his own death, he was sure that she escaped somewhere ahead of him. If he just turned around, he might be able to get out. At least he knew that there was one way out, but would he be able to make it?
"I was stuck with a decision to make: Should I press on and hope that there's an exit nearby or do I turn around and risk not making it back to the entrance. I knew one thing; I had to calm down if I was going to make it out alive."
George slowly drew in a breath and released it just as slow. Mental words of comfort slowed his racing heart, slowed his breathing. It was working he told himself, he tried not to think of the problem but of the solution.
"I think it was then that I decided that I didn't care how long it took, I was determined to make it. The only decision I could make was to continue. There was no chance of me surviving if I had to crawl back."
George sighed as he formed his consternation and pushed himself on with sheer determination. With a renewed sense of purpose, George pulled through the duct faster than he had before. No openings were in sight, but George pressed on.
"The whole memory is hazy so I don't really remember how long I was crawling in that God-awful place, but I remember that light like it was just a few minutes ago."
Up ahead, a light shown through the darkness. The striped pattern was carved on the metallic sheeting of the duct, a ray of hope for George. He crawled with all of his might until finally, he reached the opening.
Through the bars in the duct, George could see a laboratory underneath. For some reason, he recognized it, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. Carefully, George tried to pry the bars off of the duct. Success was on his side, the bars opened up easily, and quietly too. George lowered himself into the laboratory and landed softly on the ground.
With a better view of the room, he knew instantly where he had seen the laboratory from. The same logo on the computer monitor, the same tables, the same instruments. This was the laboratory from the videos. George's gaze shot around the room, looking for anyone that could be there. Not a single soul was in the room except for him.
"It was easy, too easy. Something was up and I could feel it. I told myself to stay on guard, but there's only so much a person could do."
George warily walked further in to the room. He passed his hand over the tables and over the instruments. The whole scene was surreal.
"I see you like what you see Mr. Hamilton." George wheeled around to come face to face with the doctor from the videos. Without a moment hesitation, the doctor smacked George upside the head with a thin metal pan. George was sent sprawling on the ground, knocking over one of the tables. His ears rung and his head felt like it was going to explode. Blurriness over took his vision, he tried to focus his eyes but it was still shocked from the encounter. "You are one sneaky sonofabitch, do you know that? I've tried many times to have you killed, but failed each time. Every one f my assassination attempts ended up conveniently missing you. Haven't you wondered why all of those around you seemed to die?"
The doctor walked towards George, who was almost recovered. George stood up, using the over turned experiment table as a support. He stood shakily, but stood nonetheless.
"Ah, tough as ever I see," the doctor motioned with his hand before continuing. "Let me introduce myself, I am Doctor Greg Solomon, at your service."
"I really don't care who you are." George said as he backed away and tried to find some sort of weapon. Greg threw aside the dented metal pan and took out his handgun.
"Oh, but don't you see? It doesn't matter what you think anymore, I've already succeeded, and my creation is complete." Greg aimed the handgun at George and leaned close. "All I needed was the power source, all I needed was something to keep the creature alive, something to hold it all together."
Sudden realization hit George. "The heirloom." He said to himself.
"What's that? Oh, I believe he's finally figured it out. You know for a Private Investigator, you're pretty useless." Greg walked closer to George, who in turn backed away. "You don't get it do you? My creation will change the face of the earth. Conflicts, skirmishes, wars, will be a thing of the past. My creature is perfect and Godlike. Mr. Hamilton, you should be proud; you will be the first person to test my greatest creation."
Greg had made his way over to a console and slammed down one of the buttons. A tank next to George began to empty and the creature inside began to awaken. The skin of the monster took on a grayish hue, and the exposed heart began to beat rapidly, the claws moved one at a time like it was trying to test them. Once all of the water drained from the tank, it started to rouse. At first, it was docile, but soon it became enraged and started slamming the glass with its claws.
The glass didn't stand a chance. It shattered within two hits, the creature leaped out of the container and looked around.
"Go, kill him my creation." Greg stood with his arms raised, a smile spread along his face. The creature looked at him quickly before driving one of its claws deep into his stomach. Blood sprayed out of his back, coloring the tables and console behind him. Gore stuck to the creature's claw. Bone could be heard shattering as it pulled out, Greg fell to his knees, and no doubt, the spine had been broken. "W…w…what? Ridiculous! My creature was perfect, it was amazing, what…what did I do wrong?"
The handgun fell out of his hand and slid across the room, opposite of George.
"That was the way my luck worked. The only gun in the room and it falls on the other side of the room, blocked by two tons of monster. Well, I've had worse."
George bolted away from the creature, trying to lure it towards him so he could run around it. He ducked behind the container, but couldn't stay long. The creature roared and backhanded the container, causing glass to rain down on George. George covered his head with his hands, feeling the pricks of the glass. Quickly, George stood up and jumped through the broken container. He rolled on his shoulder and stood up behind the creature.
The handgun was only a few feet away from him. George grabbed the gun and ran towards the door. Passing where he had come in the room from, George had a straight shot to the door. From behind him, the creature roared and began to run at George. The wall exploded behind George as the creature crashed into it. George wrenched open the metal doors and locked it from the inside.
"Those doors should hold him for a while." George said with a sigh of relief. Suddenly, clumps of plasterboard exploded out at him, as the wall opened up and revealed the monster standing proudly. "Sonofa…"
George took aim and shot it in the exposed heart. The monster grabbed at its heart and screamed, but didn't fall down. Instead, it looked like it only angered it, George's eyes widened as he turned on his heel and resumed his running.
"I had thought that would take down the creature, but I was wrong. As I was running thoughts of death flooded my mind, but I couldn't help thinking that shooting its heart should've worked. Maybe if I shot it some more something might work."
As the creature got close, George rolled to the side narrowly missing being hit with the claw. On one knee, George took aim a second time; he squeezed the trigger and missed. The bullet grazed the shoulder of the monster. He didn't have time to shot again as he rolled once more to evade the oncoming onslaught of attacks from the monster. That claw flew through the air at deadly speeds, if he were caught by it once, it would surely be fatal.
Any chance he got, George would try to shoot the monster, but it wasn't giving him much chance to aim for the heart.
Whoosh. The claw flew past George again. On his knees once more, George took aim, taking care not to miss. He squeezed the trigger and let off a shot. Blood squirted out of the heart as the bullet lodged into the fleshy exposed organ. Again, the monster clutched at its chest, screaming in pain. This time, however, it fell to one knee briefly.
"It was working, if I kept shooting that heart, it would eventually die. I had a way to kill it. Now my only problem was avoiding its attacks long enough to put it down."
George stood up immediately, when he learned of the weakness and began to run for the exit of this room. The monster was on its feet by the time he reached the door and was barreling towards him.
The door opened smoothly and George ran through. The world fell, George's stomach came up to his throat, and the shock of losing all sense of reality hit him like a ton of bricks. Underneath him, where he expected there to be floor, emptied out into the floor below him, George fell through and collapsed abruptly onto the second floor. He groaned as he rolled to his feet and began to run, anyway that could get him out of the path of the monster.
A familiar roar erupted from through the hole and the monster came crashing down onto the second floor behind George. Being hurt from the fall, George was limping as fast as he could, but he knew it wasn't going to be fast enough. Careful aiming wasn't a luxury he had; George turned slightly, while still limping and shot at the creature. Mostly, missing but hit it twice in the heart.
It was then that he spotted what he needed to put down the creature. An exposed wire on the ceiling sprayed sparks all over the floor, with a switch next to it, George was certain that he could at least
render the creature unconscious long enough to sever the heart from the creature. George took his jacket and tore off a sleeve, wrapped his hand in the sleeve and punched out a window next to him. He broke off a piece of glass and waited by the switch.
The monster had recovered, but was showing signs of damage from the abuse it was taking. It watched George for a second, considering what he was doing, but its aggressive nature took over and it charged at him. George waited, trying to keep his nerves about him. It had to be right under the sparks when it got to him or it wouldn't work.
Ten feet.
Six feet.
Four.
Two.
Now. George slammed the switch down and a bolt of electricity shot from the wire and into the monster. It didn't even have a chance to roar as its eyes rolled in the back of its head and it collapsed on the ground. Within an instant, George pounced on the creature, took the glass shard and started cutting out the monster's heart. The shard was bloodied by the work, but it had done its job. George had cut out over half of the heart. The monster breathed its last few breaths, George rammed the shard down into the remaining part of the heart and kicked it down farther just to make sure.
"With that thing out of the way, the only job left was to retrieve the heirloom."
George walked over the creature and looked down at it. With a deep breath, he pulled down its thong.
"Whoa, that's huge." Rita surprised George.
"Well it's not that big. I mean, mine's bigger."
"But you don't even have one."
"Excuse me!"
"You don't have a claw like that."
"Oh…..never mind." George quickly took the thong and stuffed it in his coat pocket.
"Wait what were you…" George walked as fast as he could back to the entrance of the school.
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"It was a difficult task, but I finally have your heirloom back." George said as he twisted the dial to his personal safe.
"Oh, thank you Mr. Hamilton, thank you so much." Cindy clasped her hands in front of her body, shaking joyfully. "You have no idea how happy I am to have this back. I haven't even been able to sleep for the past few days."
"The dame was too excited for me, after all I had been through, I was just glad it was over. A few days? Felt more like a life time."
George withdrew a large manila envelope from the safe and threw it on the desk. His entire experience rested in that envelope and it almost felt like he was giving up some sort of cursed item. "There it is, your 'heirloom'."
"I can't say that I'm not glad this case was over, but looking back on it I would've taken this case all over again. Something inside me just felt that if I went back, I would have to do this all over again."
Cindy ripped open the package and took out the thong. Her face contorted, and she looked up at George with a saddened expression. "You stretched it."