Chapter 9

Richie waited for Celeste in the court yard like always. Celeste was always on time for their tutoring sessions, but today wasn't going to be a usual session. She must have known that and taken her time getting there today. Why else would she be this late. Richie looked at his watch again. It had been almost a half hour since they were supposed to meet. How much longer should he wait. A muffled grunt left his lips as he headed back into the building and went right to the stair well. Taking two steps at a time, he hurried to the third floor and into the tutoring center. There were half a dozen tables set up, each occupied by one student and one tutor. Almost everyone looked up as he came through the door.

"Can I help you?" An older gentlemen asked in a friendly voice.

"Yeah, I was wondering if any of you had seen Celeste today. I have an exam tomorrow and she was supposed to help me study." Richie looked from one person to another to see if anyone would speak up.

The old man spoke again, "She's not here today.

"Oh, did she call in sick?"

"Didn't call in at all. That's not like her, ya know. I hope everything is ok. One of us can help you study if you like?" The man gestured to the other tutors in the room.

Richie frowned, "Ah, I can't. I really need to find Celeste. She ah, she has by book. She called me last night and told me that I had left it in the library. So she took it home with her. Said she'd give it back today. But now she's not here. I guess I'll have to stop by her house."

The older man nodded. "When you see her can you remind her that she is required to call in if she is going to be out. We need some notice to fill her appointments."

"Yeah sure. I'll do that." Richie turned around at took a step toward the door. "Oh, shoot!"

"What is it son?" This time the man sounded more annoyed.

Richie turned back toward the man. "I just remembered, when Celeste gave me her address, I wrote it down on a note card, the one I left in my Calculus book. I don't suppose you could remind me where she lives, could you?" Clever boy Richie thought to himself.

"Oh, well I'm really not supposed to do that."

"I'd never dream of asking if this wasn't really important. Without my book, I have no chance to pass that exam tomorrow." His pleading eyes were at work again.

"Oh, all right." The old man scribbled an address on a piece of scrap paper and handed it over to the desperate student. "Good luck with your exam young man."

"Thank you so much. You have really saved my…" Richie thought before he said the last word. Some how, it seemed wrong to say the word ass to this elderly man. "Grade. Thanks again." Before the man could change his mind, Richie was out the door and half way down the stairs. He looked at the address quickly and smiled to himself as he inwardly congratulated himself for his most recent con. As he reached the bottom of the stair well, he threw the doors open that lead to the back parking lot and jogged over to where his bike was parked. He shoved the address into his pocket and pulled on his helmet. "416 Porter Drive," he repeated to himself as he mounted the bike and took off in a hurry.

Richie knew the neighborhood he was heading for. It was a place that had been off limits to him before he had met MacLeod. One of the nicest parts of town, and a gated community at that. He had only been there once before when he had accompanied Duncan and Tess to one of their well off friends' housewarming party. He had referred to it as "Stuck Up Street" at the time. He wondered how she could afford to live there since she claimed money was tight and it was only the money she made tutoring, that kept the bills paid and food on the table. Perhaps she had not been completely honest with him after all. So much for miss perfect match for Mac, he though as he pulled onto the cross street.

There was no way they would let him through the main gate, Richie knew that from trying to get in as a kid. He was going to have to climb the fence in the back of the community and find her house from there.

The fence was shorter than Richie remembered it, and getting over was not a problem. Now, I just need to blend it, he thought to himself as he tried to look inconspicuous to the residence that happened to be outside. He waved to them as he walked by their houses, as if he was a neighbor and knew them well. No one waved back, but no one paid him any mind either, so he just kept searching the house numbers until he found the one he was looking for. But now what. Should he just go to the front and knock or try to find her and stay hidden. It was only a moment for him to decide that after the night before, perhaps she didn't want to see him. Maybe she had been scared away was trying to avoid him and his odd friend.

Richie decided to try the back door and stay as quiet as possible. Mac had asked him to find out as much as he could. He'd have better luck if he stayed out of sight. To his surprise, the back door opened easily when he turned the knob. Richie wondered who in their right mind would leave their door unlocked if they lived in a house that screamed from every angle, we're rich and have lots of valuables inside but the though disappeared when he considered that the whole neighborhood looked like that.

The house seemed even bigger from the inside. The first floor was a very large open floor plan with few places to hide. Luckily, it seemed no one was home, at least not on this floor. Richie found his way to a beautiful spiral staircase that lead up to the second floor and crept up as quietly as possible. There were five bedrooms, and each of them was immaculate. It looked more like a bed and breakfast than it did a home, each room tidy, each bed perfectly made. The room on the far end of the hall was the exception. Richie peered in past the opened door. No one was there either, but there was clothes scattered all over the bed and floor. Drawers had been left open and their contents has been pushed around. Someone had been in here recently looking for something, at least that's how it appeared. Either that or this person was the polar opposite of the occupants of the other bedrooms.

Once he confirmed that no one was around, Richie entered the room less cautiously. He looked around at the scattered items on the bed and floor and recognized a few items that he had seen Celeste wear. Outside of the fact that the room was a mess, nothing looked unusual or suspicious. No signs of a fight, just disarray. Richie walked over to the vanity as his nose picked up an unusual scent. Something familiar, but not something he had smelled recently. A bottle of nail polish caught his attention as he identified the smell. There was a large crack in the bottle, and some of the contents had leaked out onto the silver tray that held several other bottles, none of which were standing upright.

Not a sign of a struggle, but there were definite clue that someone had been searching for something, and not cared at all how the room was left. Now the reality hit him. She hadn't called in to the university, and her room had been ransacked. Celeste was in trouble.