They decided to have lunch at the executive lunchroom that first day, giving Drew an opportunity to walk the halls of the entire three executive floors. Carson knew enough that Drew was already taking down notes in her head even as she flirted with the executives they "bumped into" and casing the joint. There was no chance they wouldn't remember her, and, by extension, Carson too.

After lunch, Carson accompanied her out to the lobby. At reception, he also arranged for a parking sticker for her little car, and had them make up a permanent Visitor's ID for her. Carson kissed her goodbye and walked back to his office.

The rest of Carson's first day went fine, and he continued working at his new job without much fanfare. He "got stuck" in his work pretty rapidly, and he seemed to be adjusting well.

As for Drew, she did some "research" after lunch. For a change, her research wasn't about THE project. Rather, she tried to find information on how to make her disguise more bulletproof. She hadn't had anyone twig yet, but given she was going to be cheerleading, she'd be under more scrutiny than ever before. So she thought this was something she needed to look out for.

So she went to THE clinic and spoke to Nurse Sally about better "camouflage attire." After making some remarks that Drew should instead think about getting surgery to finally finish off her transition, she agreed to help.

Blushing beet red, Drew endured being measured in detail "down there" and afterward accompanied Sally to what looked like a high-end fashion boutique in Brooklyn.

It turned out that the place was where well-heeled clientele that were into... alternative lifestyles would purchase attire for when they want to be en femme, and prided themselves with their ability to remain discreet.

It was explained to her that gaffs were more than adequate for her intentions, but she did buy some special pairs of machine-washable underpants that made her look like a regular girl down there, complete with outside genitalia and hair that matched her natural shade. With a bit of makeup at the waistline and the edges, she could stand in the nude now and look completely like a girl. Sally said it probably wouldn't come to that, but if there were occasions when Drew might find herself needing to be... less dressed, then these new camouflage pants would come in handy.

She then bought a small lockbox where she could keep them, but small enough that it'd fit in their big hidden safe. That way, if Callie or Iola would spend the night and should look through her stuff, they wouldn't would find it, or anything else unusual. Hopefully, though, her dad wouldn't ask what was in the new lockbox.

She also got Sally to make her an exercise and diet program that would minimize muscle development but improve her endurance and flexibility. She'd need this if she did become a cheerleader. Eventually, she would add this to her regular daily routine.

Other than that, her day was pretty average. She didn't do her real "research" anymore. That bit was done now, and she'd be waiting for her Pop to do the next move. That was a little sad because she wouldn't be doing any more of her little field trips, and she liked that.

So she permanently packed the netbook away in the safe, taking out the battery first, of course, and putting everything in yet another Farraday mesh bag.

The next day, for lack of something to do, she decided to test all of the toys they got from Best Buy.

They all seemed to be working fine. She went to their living room and opened up their ersatz Harman amp, turned on the RF scanner and made a clean sweep of the house. She found a couple of possible sources, and used one of the portable scanners to track them down. They turned out to be her dad's radio alarm and her cell phone. Other than that, the house was clean. No radio sources around.

She got the nonlinear junction detector they kept in the living room closet. Her dad had been working on it a little bit, and it now sported a sticker that declared it as a "Sunspot Metal Detector: lots of fun at the beach." She giggled at that.

She swept the entire house beginning with the second floor. Nothing. She ran it over her phone. Despite it being off, the detector went off. She then dropped it into one of the Farraday mesh bags and the detector couldn't sense it anymore. Cool.

She then went to the ground floor. Starting with the kitchen, she swept the rest of the house. The safe was completely undetectable and she was glad about that. She ran it over everything she could. It beeped over her dad's desktop computer, the amps in their entertainment system (including the Harman) and nothing else.

Nothing again. She felt a little bit foolish doing scans, but did it anyway, and as she walked past the portable clothes hangar that the delivery people left, it beeped.

Surprised, she stopped. Where was it coming from?

She tuned down the beeper, reduced the scanning range to a few feet and ran it over everything. Eventually she found it coming from the portable hangar. She looked it over closely and found a little hole in the cap on the end of the bar where the coats and shirts are hung.

She found that the cap could be unscrewed. When she took it off, she found a little electronic device inside. She pulled it out and studied it. Since she knew a little bit about electronics there wasn't anything too surprising to her.

It was a small battery-operated microphone and transmitter. The little battery had probably already been drained and that's why it wasn't transmitting anymore, but the fact that it was even there...

She went upstairs, got her cell phone, went back down and started taking pictures of the device and where it was hidden. She texted her dad with their pre-arranged signal. "Can you bring pizza for dinner?" was their little code for this eventuality. What they would do after this, they didn't know, except to behave normally and to not let on that they knew.

"Pepperoni and cheese?" her dad texted back. That meant that he understood, and that they should play it cool and not do anything weird.

"Plus a small veggie and cheese," she replied, meaning she agreed.

She sighed. "Guess it really starts now," she thought, and put the camera back in where she found it. "Time to start being careful." And she finished scanning the rest of the house.

She thought of everything that had gone on in the house since her dad's clothes were delivered and she couldn't think of anything that wasn't normal. So they probably didn't hear anything bad. Besides, it was probably connected to Carson's little misunderstanding with that store. For all she knew, this could just be standard operating procedure for them and didn't have anything to do with them checking out the Nances. But Drew knew that didn't mean they could drop their guard.

"Still, nothing more could be done further," she thought. "So it's useless to be worried. Our plans are all set, all our precautions set. So I guess we just ignore this."

What she did, though, was go out to Best Buy, buy another security camera and some nice non-see-through plastic curtains for the kitchen windows. As she was about to leave, she saw something called an Asus Transformer on sale - it as an Android tablet that had a built in cell phone that slid into the back of the tablet. It was at least a two-year-old model and wasn't too popular to begin with. But at thirty dollars, she thought it was a steal, and got one.

When her dad got home, he found her in the kitchen hanging the new curtains.

"Hey, pop," she said, and bussed him on the cheek.

"What's all this?"

"Oh, nothing. Just putting up some nice bright curtains for the kitchen. Sorry - I was bored, and was looking for something to do."

Carson laughed. "Oh, I'm not complaining. So, let's see."

Drew pulled the new curtains over the windows. The bright colors and patterns did indeed make the kitchen look more cheery, but Carson noted that the street lights outside couldn't be seen through them. Aha! He looked at Drew and nodded, saying that he understood without speaking.

She also brought out her phone and scrolled through the pictures she took earlier.

Carson looked at them, not speaking, and sighed.

Drew hugged him around the neck. She was struggling not to say anything that would be out of character, and yet still comfort him.

"I'm sorry, Pop," she whispered. "But, you know, it's not like we weren't expecting this."

"Yeah... Well. It's just gotten a bit too real, you know. So. Guess we just chug along then. Life as usual."

"Yeah. Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," he said in a normal tone of voice, smiled and looked at her fondly. Shaking off his mood, he gestured at the pizza. "So. How about some pepperoni and cheese? I even got the veggie and cheese you asked for."

"Sounds good." She gave him one last little kiss on the cheek, went to the fridge and brought out a beer and a Coke Zero.

"Thanks, kid... Anyway, how was your day?"

And, inevitably, the conversation became lighter and more normal.

-----

The following day, she went to school to meet up with her besties. Callie and Iola met her at the school's front steps. They had no exams for the rest of the day, and promised to spend the afternoon with her and continue their investigation into "the case of the old clock." They were laden down with textbooks, though, since they planned to study over at Callie's later that night.

So after lunch at a fashionable little bistro in Riverdale, they decided to visit #43 Merrimack. Their cover story was that Drew's dad was interested in buying the place. So they called the number they got from the phone company and asked if they could visit the place. In an hour, they were in the living room of number 43.

"It's great that you could allow us to visit on such short notice, Ms. Jacobs."

"Oh, no trouble at all," the old lady, Ms Eva Jacobs said. She was a poised sixty-year-old silver-haired lady in a very expensive-looking suit. Drew knew that seventies style was back in vogue now.

"I'm surprised that anyone is still interested in buying the place," Ms Jacobs said. "It's been on the market for more than twenty years already and nary a nibble."

"Well, you should have switched realtors."

"Oh, we don't have a realtor. No one wanted to take the commission."

"Why not? Seems to me this is a nice neighborhood, and anyone would jump at the chance to buy the place."

"Ah, my family has a bit of a reputation, Ms. Nance. Most people around here like to keep their distance."

"Oh, please call me Drew, everybody does."

"Thank you. Please call me Eva."

"Ma'am," Iola asked, "why is it that you're selling the place? It's a nice place, and with the right coat of paint, it'd be a killer townhouse."

Eva sighed. "My family has fallen on difficult times. We need the money."

Drew noted the fixings and furniture, and Eva's clothes. Though a little dated, everything in the place spoke of refinement and old money. But the patina of age and neglect spoke of hard times.

"That's too bad, ma'am," Drew said.

"Dearie, I told you to call me Eva."

Drew smiled. "I will remember. So, maybe you can show us around?"

Eva stood and toured them around the property. It only had the one floor, but it was a pretty big place with a large front yard, and it had everything anyone could expect, although Drew noted that the A/C wasn't on despite the muggy weather, and there were no lightbulbs in the light fixtures outside. And everything inside had a slight film of dust.

Drew explained that the reason she and her dad was looking for another place was because their place in Richmond, New York (she didn't say Staten Island since Richmond didn’t have the same declasse stigma of “Staten Island”) was too big for them. Eva extolled the coziness of her house, and how ideal it was for a small family.

The girls were very friendly and complimentary, and strove to bring the old lady out of her shell. It wasn't too difficult - she was a lonely lady and was very grateful for the attention.

So, as they sat down to tea, Eva talked about how she came to be in these straits, and why they needed to sell the property.

"In the fifties," Eva said, "my big sister, Marlena, who everyone called Marlee, fell in love with a good man. But a man from a bad family. His name was Luigi Falcone."

"Falcone?" Drew said. "I read some things about Mr. Falcone. Wasn't he some famous lawyer or something?"

"Well, I don't know about famous. But, yes, he was a lawyer. And as a lawyer, he went up against organized crime. He was the target of a lot of gangsters. It was the fifties, after all. But he did get many of them locked up."

"Wow," Iola said. "He sounds like some kind of superhero!"

"Well, he was, sort of, to a lot of people." Eva stood up and went to the mantle. She handed Drew a picture in a frame.

"That's Marlee with Luigi, when they were still together, and our little gang." She pointed at the other three in the picture, who were mostly standing behind Marlee and Luigi. "That's Rocky, Chloe and me. Rocky and Chloe were another couple that were Marlee's closest friends. And I was all of ten when this picture was taken. I insisted on tagging along with them," she giggled.

Drew looked at it, and then handed it to Callie and Iola.

"Oooh," Iola said. "Luigi is a hunk!"

"Oh, yes," Eva giggled. "Luigi was quite the hunk. He was seventeen years older than Marlee, but they didn't care. They were inseparable."

"Well, what happened to Luigi and Marlee?" Callie asked

Eva sighed. "Like I said, Luigi came from a bad family. The Falcones were, what do you call it, enforcers for the local Mafia. Except for Luigi, that is. He used the inside information that he got from his dad and his older brothers to put away several New York gangsters. And..."

"Yes?"

"We heard that a contract was put out for Luigi..."

"Contract?" Callie asked.

"You know," Iola said. "That's when people are hired to kill someone."

"Like in a hit?"

"Sheesh, Callie," Iola said. "Don't you watch TV?"

"Anyway," Drew said, "sorry about my friends. You were saying, Eva?"

Eva smiled and waved it away. "Oh, that's all right. Anyway, yes, Luigi was kind of a hero around these parts, but the Family didn't appreciate what he was doing. The Family wanted him out of the way, so a hit was put out on him. In fact, I think his brothers were the ones who first signed up for the hit."

"His brothers!"

"Yes. He ratted on his brothers, and they didn't like that."

Callie handed the picture back to her, and Eva stood it up on the coffee table. She looked at the picture, sadly remembering those old days.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Marlee, Rocko, Chloe and I went around with Luigi a lot. And we heard rumors about the Falcones and the Family being after him. Luigi himself didn't know for sure, and we tried to keep whatever we heard from him, to stop him from worrying, but we would always see a bunch of hoods showing up everywhere. We tried to ignore them and just tried to be careful, and always went to places where there were a lot of people around. So they couldn't do much."

Drew, Callie and Iola listened raptly.

"But when we heard that Ziggy was involved..."

"Ziggy?" Callie asked.

"Ziggy Zigler. He was a known New Jersey hitman who was rumored to have killed a lot of people in behalf of the Family. He was never caught or put in prison because he supposedly had a lot of connections among the New York and New Jersey police. Anyway, on the day that he was supposed to be on his way to off Luigi, Luigi and Marlee had a date to the theater, but she warned him off and the four of us went to the theater without him. At the theater, Ziggy was there with his guns out.

"The police were there as well, and they caught him red-handed. He was put away for life and that was that. But Luigi disappeared."

"Was he finally killed?" Iola asked.

"No one really knows. Some say the gangs finally got him, though some say that he’s still out there hiding." She shrugged.

"What do you think happened to him?" Drew asked.

Eva sighed. "You know..." Overcome by emotion, she stopped for a second and wiped a tear from her eye. "You know, I think he wasn't assassinated. But he stayed away and avoided showing himself. I think that close call at the theater showed him how he had put Marlee in danger, and us too, I guess. So he had gone away so that we'd not be in danger because of him."

"But that was such a long time ago. Shouldn't he have come back by now?"

"Maybe," she sighed. "But it isn't over yet."

"What do you mean?" Callie asked.

She gestured around. "Whoever was after Luigi - they are still around."

"How do you know that? And who are 'they?'"

"I don't know who they are, probably the Family, but it's a fact that someone bankrupted my dad and he lost his business, that someone has tried stopping him from recovering his investments. And even now, we can't seem to be able to sell our house - the last thing we have of value. Someone is actively... discouraging it."

"But why?"

"Maybe revenge. Maybe to draw him out. I don't know. But I think it's connected. Marlee thinks so, too."

"Marlee is still alive?"

Eva smiled. "Oh, yes. She's quite old now. She lives in a senior citizen's home. But big sis is still around."

"That's wonderful."

"Actually, I think the reason she's still around is the hope that Luigi is coming back."

"But didn't you say that he was older than Marlee? Seventeen years older? He's probably dead already, even if he wasn't killed by some assassin."

"That's true. But Marlee is a little bit senile. Or maybe she's deliberately fooling herself. What she needs, I think, is some kind of closure. And if she did, then she might be able to let go. Unrequited love is the worst kind. Because it's hard to move on. I..."

"I'm sorry..." Drew reached over and held her hand.

"Oh, it's all right." Eva patted her hand. "Thank you, dear."

"Do you even know if he's still alive?"

"No. But someone does. About fifteen years ago, I hired a detective agency to try and find him. Have you heard of Southern Cross Investigations? Anyway, after a year or so, the lead detective called and said that he had some promising leads and was very close. But, mysteriously, he stopped sending reports after he said that. I tried contacting him but he refused to talk with me anymore. His company even returned my money and said they didn't need my business. 'They' probably scared them off."

"Which agency was this again?"

She mentioned the name of the agency again, one of the biggest detective agencies around. Nowadays Southern Cross did a lot of corporate work. Drew remembered the name of the agency because she came across it many times in her research, and because it did a lot of work with Tate & Company, Tate Holdings, American Amalgamated and all of their subsidiaries. That wasn't too unusual - there were many companies that did business with them.

But she didn't want to appear to know anything about the agency, and played dumb. "I guess I don't know much about these things. I don't recognize the name."

"I'm not surprised," Eva said. "Not many would. When I hired them fifteen years ago, they were just a hole-in-the-wall operation, with only 5 people on the payroll. Now, I hear they're a big-deal company now. Oh well." She clapped her hands once. "Well! Enough of that nonsense. So, now that you've seen it, what do you think of the house? Do you think your father would be interested?"

"Oh, yes! Definitely! I'll try to talk with him tomorrow, and we'll get back to you by the end of next week. What do you think you'd be asking for it?"

She quoted something that Drew knew was way below market value.

"Ummm, ma'am..."

"I told you, Drew, call me Eva."

"I'm sorry. But you must realize, that's a very low number, especially for the quality of the property and the location. Why so low?"

"I am desperate, Drew. I don't mind telling you that, if it will help close the deal. We have so many debts to pay, and Marlee isn't doing too well." She stood and put the picture back on the mantle. She gazed fondly at the picture, then ran her hand over the edge of the mantle.

"I don't want to sell the place, really. This is where all my memories are. This is all Marlee and I have left. But we have no choice, given all of our debts and all the problems we have." She looked back to Drew. "I hope your dad can help."

Drew stood, fighting back some tears. "I will, Eva. I promise." She turned to leave. "Anyway. Thank you again. We'll see you soon."

After they had closed the door and walked back to Tiger, Callie took her hand.

"Are you okay, honey?" Callie said.

"Oh, Callie!" She turned, hugged her, and cried on her shoulder. "I couldn't take anymore. It broke my heart!"

"Me, too, honey. Me, too."

The two of them stood there for a while until Drew pulled back. "Sorry, Callie."

Callie gave her a kiss on the cheek. "S'all right, Drew. I understand."

"We just have to help them. That's it." Iola said. "What's our next step?"

"I think we need to visit that agency. Get some information." She unlocked the car and they all got in.

"I'm game," Callie said. "Iola?"

"Sure. So, when? Tonight?"

"No," Drew pulled out of the curb. "No. It's too late already. And I need to plan. How about after your exams? Maybe Friday night?"

"No prob." Iola said. "Now, you better bring us home, Drew. Gotta hit the books. Two more days of exams for us."

Drew laughed. "Sure. But how about this? You call your folks and say that you'll be spending the night at my place for some last minute cramming. Tomorrow night, too, if you want."

"Sounds great!" Callie said "Sort of like a sleepover."

"Oh, no you don't!" Drew giggled. "This is for studying! And I'll make sure you guys will do nothing else."

The three girls then started making calls, and Callie's aunt and Iola's folks agreed right away. Drew's dad also agreed, but said he'd be coming home a little late so Drew would have to take care of their dinner.

-----

An hour or so later, they were in Drew's house's dining area and were scarfing down a pizza and diet sodas for dinner. Drew didn't mind pizza two nights in a row. She was spending the night with her friends and was having a ball, even if all she was doing was helping them study.

Since Iola had planned to spend the night at Callie's, she came prepared with a change of clothes. After dinner, she changed into a cute pajama shorty. She buttoned up the pajama top, cinched the drawstring of the pajama pants, but left the pants legs alone. The way they dragged on the floor made her look cute, actually.

As for Callie, Drew lent her one of her just-washed sleep shirts. When Callie put it on, the edge went past her knees. The white sleep shirt with pink piping was awfully cute, and she looked like she was in some ad for a vacation or something when she put it on. She kept fiddling with the neckline and biting it. Drew had this suspicion that she was sniffing at it. She worried that the t-shirt smelled funny, but knew it was clean since it was new from the laundry, so it should smell fresh. Drew herself was wearing another sleep shirt - her favorite. So it was a little thin and worn, but clean - it was newly-washed, too. And like any newly-washed shirt, it was a little stiff and tight. Callie kept sneaking looks at her and the way the sleep shirt hugged Drew's sexy curves.

When Carson got in at about ten, he found the girls in the dining area, with books strewn all over the dining room table. Drew bussed his cheek and divested him of the Chunky Monkey ice cream that he brought home.

"You're welcome!" Carson said humorously. All he heard after that was giggling as Drew went to the kitchen to get some bowls.

The girls moved all of their stuff from the dining table to the living room to allow Carson to have some dinner. Drew kept him company and helped herself to half a slice and a little bowl of Chunky Monkey. Later, Drew dragged him over to his favorite chair and they visited for a bit. He was even able to help Drew's friends by drilling them with some history facts he got from their textbooks.

When it was near midnight, he took leave of the girls saying he had an early day tomorrow. He gave Drew a little kiss and climbed upstairs.

They looked at him as he disappeared. And giggled.

"Your dad is pretty great, Drew," Callie said.

"And pretty sexy, too," Iola said.

"Ewww!" Drew said. "I didn't want to hear that!"

The two girls laughed.

Eventually, they fell asleep on the couch while studying, but were awakened by the smell of brewing coffee.

Yawning, Iola got up and walked toward the kitchen.

"Hey, Mr. N," Iola said. "Something smells real good."

Carson gestured to the coffeepot.

"Help yourself, m'dear."

"Yayyy!" Iola got herself a big steaming mug of black coffee.

"Breakfast will be ready soon. Why don't you find yourself a spot at the table?"

"Thanks, Mr. N."

She got a coaster for her mug and sipped her coffee. She also got some plates and placemats and started setting four places at the table.

Drew and Callie eventually woke up, and found Iola at the table sipping coffee and chatting with Carson.

"Hey, sleepyheads," Iola called. "Breakfast."

After breakfast, Carson took his leave and headed off to work while the girls took their showers in the house's different bathrooms. Thank goodness there were four baths in the house - one downstairs near the living room, another one inside what would have been the maid's quarters but they were using it as a guest room, an en-suite bath in Carson's room on the second floor, and another big en-suite bath with a queen-size bathtub inside Drew's room. Drew decided to do her bathtub routine later and contented herself with a quick shower for now, while Callie and Iola took leisurely showers in the bathrooms downstairs.

After her shower, Drew put on a sports bra and one of her gaffs. Over that, she wore one of her short-short cutoff jeans, a loose cutoff tee, and sneakers. Drew was uncustomarily dressed down, but it didn't really matter to her since she was just dropping off the girls at the school.

When the girls went upstairs and saw Drew in her dressed-down outfit, they thought she would look very casual. But Drew carried herself in such a way that even in such frumpy clothes, she moved very elegantly and looked quite fetching. Callie forced herself to stop staring and started getting ready herself.

Iola had her clothes set for the day and quickly changed into them. As usual, her brash, brassy style was on showcase but Drew didn't comment except to say that she thought Iola looked really sexy.

As for Callie, Drew allowed her to raid her closet. Callie whistled when she went through Drew's things, and commented that Drew had such a lot of nice stuff. What Callie ended up picking was a tight sleeveless eggshell-white stretch bodyshirt-tee with a turtleneck collar and no sleeves, a fitted denim jacket which was slightly large for her, and a tight-but-stretchy spandex mini over burgundy tights, and she wore the pink-and-white sneakers she wore the day before. A very sporty ensemble but very sexy. And still within the dress code, too.

Callie should have gone home and gotten some clothes last night. It was a case of not thinking things through. So Callie had to borrow clothes from Drew. And the underwear that Drew lent her fit, thank goodness. Callie said she'd return everything as soon as she'd had them washed. She felt unaccountably turned on by the fact she was wearing Drew's clothes. She even fancied that, if she took a deep breath, she could smell Drew's special cologne and moisturizer. Drew said there was no rush to return it but Callie didn't want to take advantage; she'd return it before the week was out.

Since the two were still getting ready, Drew went downstairs to lock up the house and bring Tiger out. She only had to wait a little while, though. After a few minutes, Callie and Iola came out of the house and went straight to the car.

Drew got her friends to school just a hair before the bell rang, kissed them both on the cheeks goodbye.

"Drew?" Callie said. "Thanks for last night. I'm gonna ace my tests for sure."

"No prob. It was fun. Study time again tonight?"

"Sure," Callie said. "I gotta call Aunt Arlene, though. See if she'll agree. Second night in a row."

"Huh? Why?"

"She has some rules about sleep-overs."

"It wasn't a sleep-over. It was a study night."

"I know, I know. Old people, you know?"

"But, Cal..."

"Let it go, Drew. She's just being the overprotective parent."

She shrugged. "Okay. How about you, Iola?"

"Oh, the 'rents don't mind, so long as you keep helping me make good grades."

"Yeah. You can't survive without me." Drew giggled.

"What!"

"Academically, I mean."

Iola bopped her on the head. "Shut up!"

"Kidding, kidding!" Drew laughed. "So where would you guys want me to pick you up?"

"About four at my place? I need a little nap, and I need some stuff for later."

"Okay. You, Callie?"

"My place, too. Wanna have lunch out later?"

"Okay. Maybe around two? We can pass by for Iola after."

"Sounds good. Seeya later." She kissed Drew on the cheek, linked arms with Iola, and they disappeared into the school.

Drew drove back home and spent an hour or so soaking in the tub - twice as long as usual. She had the mistaken idea that, since she hadn't done it for a while, this might compensate. While she did, she had her new little Transformer tablet out and was surfing the net about Southern Cross Investigations.

Using the built-in phone, she called Southern Cross with her best secretarial voice, and tried to find out about the Luigi Falcone case. The lady on the other end became quiet.

Drew mentioned Eva Jacobs and said that she had given them the same case and she was calling to see if they could get some information about it.

The lady said that they never worked on any such case and abruptly hung up. ...Oh, no...

"That's that," Drew said. And she started to think up schemes on how to get at their files.

When she started to wrinkle, she decided she'd had enough and got out of the water.

Just before she was about to go back to bed for more sleep, she heard the doorbell. She put on a robe, padded downstairs and looked through the front door's peephole. Drew saw Callie's Aunt Arlene outside. She was wearing a coat over her nurse's scrubs, with a big cake box and a couple of six-packs of Drew's favorite Swamp Pop sugarcane soda. Over her shoulder was a big poncho bag and Callie's big backpack that Callie insisted on calling her "overnighter."

"Oh no!" she thought. "Am I in trouble? But she has cake and Swamp Pop!"

She took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Hey, Aunt Arlene! Good morning?"

Callie laughed. "Why are you looking so worried, honey? I just came over to say thanks for helping out my Callie before I had to go do my shift at the hospital."

"Oh! Whew. I was worried. Come on in." She ushered her into the house.

"Thanks, Drew. Is your dad home?"

"Ah, no. He left early for his new job. Coffee?"

"Thank you."

Drew set up the coffee machine. "You missed Callie. She's already in school. Make yourself at home, Aunt Arlene. I'll just go up for a second and finish dressing."

"Of course, dear. Go on ahead."

Drew hurried up the stairs and finished getting dressed. She picked a conservative ensemble this time - well, conservative for her.

About twenty minutes later, she came down wearing a loose, three-fourth sleeve flowered blouse over a tight, plain stretch tank. She also wore a pair of jeggings made out of faux faded-denim, and high-top fashion sneakers. She rolled up the sleeves well above her elbows while she walked down the stairs.

"Well," Aunt Arlene said as she wiped down the kitchen table. "Don't you look sexy!"

There were two settings on the table, with two plates and a slice of coffee crumble cake on each. Beside one of the plates were a glass and a can of Swamp Pop.

"Aunt Arlene!" Drew said. "You didn't need to clean up!" She noted the broom and dustpan in the corner, and suspected that Aunt Arlene had done more cleaning than just wiping down the table.

"Oh, it's all right, honey. I couldn't help myself. Don't you guys have a maid or something?"

"Oh, Pop and I have been managing things on our own for now."

"Well you guys are doing great. But I think you could do with some help." She cleared her throat. "I hope you don't mind me saying so."

"Oh, that's okay," she smiled. "We know. Pop and I are actually getting ready to look for a part-time housekeeper."

"Don't get me wrong - you guys keep a very clean place. The house just needs a bit of dusting." She pointed to the rafters. There were some cobwebs there.

Drew shrugged embarrassedly. "Well, yeah..."

Aunt Arlene laughed. "Oh, don't mind me, Drew. I'm sure no one would notice - I'm obsessive-compulsive about cleanliness. I'm sure Callie's told you. It's a problem. Callie keeps on saying that I may need some professional help. I'm a regular Monica Geller." She laughed and gestured for Drew to sit down and they had some cake.

"This is great!" Drew said, lifting another forkful. "Did you make this yourself?"

Aunt Arlene giggled. "Me? Oh, no! I can't even boil an egg. I got this at that little bakery near our place."

"Well, thank you for this, Aunt Arlene. It's great. Especially the Swamp Pop," Drew dimpled. "But why'd you pass by? What can I do for you?"

"Oh, that's okay. No trouble. And if you're anything like Callie or Iola, I know you'd like the soda. Also, I had some time before going to work, so I decided to pass by and say thanks, and maybe spend a little time to know my Callie's newest friend."

"Well, there's nothing to know really." She then unreeled her standard back-story, modified a little bit to be more mom-friendly. Aunt Arlene patiently listened to her, although she already knew most of it courtesy of Callie and Iola.

For her part, Aunt Arlene told Drew about her and Callie. Drew knew most of it already as well, but politely listened.

Over more cups of coffee, she and Callie's aunt got to know each other better, and were soon laughing their heads off and bonding over stories about Callie and her antics.

Aunt Arlene chanced to look at the big clock and noted the time.

"Oh, no!" she cried. "I'm going to be late! I need to go so I can get to the bus on time."

"Awww. And we were having fun."

"I'm sorry, Drew. It's just that I can't afford to miss any overtime, especially after my hours were cut in half. I might even have to take a boarder soon, actually."

Drew was looking at her.

"Oh, honey, no need to worry. It'll all work out. I'll see you later. That's Callie's backpack, so no need to pass by the house later. Callie's all set for tonight. She said that you should go straight to school to pick her up. And, you know, maybe we can do this again another time, and even bring Callie along. Imagine how fun it would be to have Callie around, too, and embarrass her to death."

Drew giggled. "It's a date!" she said, and walked her to the door.

"Thanks, Drew," Aunt Arlene said before stepping out. "Save some of that soda for later, okay? I'm sure Iola will appreciate it."

She took her bag from Drew. "You know, I'm so glad that my Callie met you. You've been a good friend to her, and a very positive influence."

"Callie's my best friend."

Aunt Arlene hugged her, and kissed her on the cheek.

"I know. Thanks again, and say hi to your dad for me."

"I will."

"Just... don't break my Callie's heart. Okay?"

Drew didn't know how to take that and couldn't respond.

"Bye, dear," Aunt Arlene said and waved goodbye as she walked towards the bus stop a block away.

"Does she know about Callie?" Drew wondered. "But Callie said no one knew... And what did she mean, 'break Callie's heart.' What..."

She went back to the dining area as she pondered the question. She took the dirty plates, washed and stacked them and went upstairs to finish getting ready.

As she washed her face and put on her makeup, she wondered about that. "How did she know? I haven't even decided yet. How would... And would it be so bad if Callie and I..." She thought of the problems they would encounter as a couple. Lesbians aren't so unusual anymore, but she knew that they'd still have trouble. And how would she tell Callie about her? She'd eventually find out so she knew it's best to tell her before things became more... physical.

But how? And how would Callie feel when she found out she was lying. And the depth of the lie. Would she even want to talk with her again? Would she want to take revenge on her and let people know her secret? And, of course, Iola would find out, too.

She shook herself from her thoughts. No, there really is no way that this could happen. They could only ever be just friends.

Sadly, she locked the front door, jumped into Tiger and drove to the school.

She pulled up to the front steps of the school. "Hey, guys!" she called, feigning an enthusiasm she didn't really feel.

"Drew!" Callie called happily. She rushed to the driver's window, leaned in and gave Drew a big, wet kiss on the cheek. "I think I aced my tests!"

"Cool! I knew it all along," Drew replied. "Where's Iola?"

"Hey, Drew," Iola said, opened the passenger door and gave her a little hug.

"How'd you do, girlfriend?"

"What do you think," she grinned and climbed into the back seat. Callie jumped in and gave Drew another hug.

Drew laughed. "Cool it, hot stuff. People are looking."

Callie stuck her tongue out at her, and laughed happily.

"'Kay, now let's grab some lunch."

"You guys go on ahead," Iola said. "I need to catch up on some sleep, especially if we're gonna be doing another all-nighter later. Can you drop me off at my place?"

"Okay, but about the detective agency..."

"Huh? You wanna talk about it now?"

"I did a bit of research this morning."

"I'll bite. And?"

"They didn't want to talk to me about the Falcone case. They said there's no Falcone case. Guess we have to use alternative means to get our information."

"What do you mean 'alternative?'"

"Well..."