Carson and Drew began their Sunday morning as they usually did by trying out a new place for breakfast. Their neighbor, Mrs. Lovett, suggested to Carson that they go to Annadale Diner. Though it was noisy and crowded at times, and though it was a working-class kind of place, she said it was a good family-friendly restaurant, and the food was excellent.

So they went to Annadale Diner on, where else, Annadale Road.

The traffic wasn't so bad but it still took them fifteen minutes to negotiate the ten miles from St. George to the diner. Luckily, the place wasn't too busy and they were able to find a parking spot pretty quickly. Carson's shiny BMW stood out among the parked cars, as did they among the working-class patrons when they got out of the car. They didn't exactly rush inside the restaurant but they didn't loiter either.

Finding a booth, they sat down, looked through the menu and placed their orders with the eager young man that was their waiter, who only had eyes for Drew.

A Greek family ran it, and the food was as good as was reported, with pretty big portions of everything. Drew had a hard time finishing the big meal she ordered - unusual since she only ordered small portions nowadays. But Carson wasn't surprised anymore - over three months of his offspring morphing into Drew, Carson had noticed that Andy's formerly bottomless appetite had changed to something akin to that of a little bird's. Things like that made him wonder if Drew couldever become Andy again when all of this was done.

The place was full of young people and some of them drifted to their table to talk to Drew. Drew giggled at the attention and, to Carson, she seemed to enjoy it. Most of them were of Italian descent - not unusual for Staten Island, though there were some from Greek families, too, since the neighborhood seemed to be Greek. Most seemed to be from working-class families, and he and Drew stuck out like a sore thumb in their expensive clothes. But everyone seemed good-natured and no one was looking to pick a fight. They found out that the tall boy who was their waiter was also the son or grandson of the owner, and he kept coming back asking if they needed anything, his eyes gravitating to Drew. Carson chuckled, remembering his own adolescent days. He asked for some more coffee and the boy practically raced to the kitchen to fetch the pot for him.

He watched the persistent boys as they chatted Drew up, and only his presence kept them from actually sitting down at their booth. There were a few girls there, too, mostly girlfriends of some of the boys, and many of them were giving Drew some hostile looks. The unattached girls were friendlier, though, and asked some questions about Drew's outfit. Drew explained that she was actually going to Central Park later for a swim with her friends, hence the outfit, and the interest of the boys doubled. One of them even said, "what a coincidence, we're going there later, too."

Carson couldn't stop his eyes from rolling. Good God, he thought. At their age, even he wasn't that lame.

It was when the attention was becoming a little too insistent that Carson loudly cleared his throat . The guys melted away leaving only a few of the girls.

One of them, a pretty, Italian girl, snorted. "Boys," she said derisively but smilingly. "How can you stand 'em?"

Drew shrugged. "What can you do?" she said. All of them giggled, including Drew.

Carson hid his face behind a newspaper and listened to Drew in quiet amazement as she carried on a conversation with the girls. She sounded so much like a girl herself. Actually, she sounded just like Jane.

Eavesdropping, he listened in on their conversation and learned a lot about teen fashions that he never really wanted to know. He supposed Drew picked up most of that from Iola and Callie. In any case, some of them asked when she'd be in Central Park and asked if it was all right to go with her.

"Just no boys, Gina," one of the other girls said to the pretty Italian brunette, and they all giggled.

"Awww..." Gina pouted, and then giggled herself.

"That's right, Gina," one of the other girls said, also with an Italian accent. "What's wrong wityou?"

Carson rustled his newspaper a little. Taking the hint, Drew wrapped it up.

"Well, I'm with my dad right now," Drew said, and gestured to Carson, "but you guys can meet me there later this afternoon. But no pressure, 'kay?" Drew didn't think they'd actually go anyway.

Most of the girls said they'd try, although Drew doubted it. They waved and left to go back to the tables where their families or friends or boyfriends were.

Carson put the paper down when they were alone again. "Made some new friends, huh?" he said, grinning.

"Aw, Dad," she said. "Don't be like that. They're nice kids."

"Just kidding, Honey. I think they're nice kids, too. But you better be careful, especially with the boys."

"What do you mean?"

"Well... they might ask for something you can't deliver. And when you cut your relationship later, you'll just hurt them. You're a little heartbreaker, you know that? Just like Jane. So it's best not to lead boys on. And, if ever they find out the truth... well, you never know what they'd do if they find out. They might hurt you."

Drew looked at him. "What are you saying, Dad?" she asked.

"I'm saying to go easy on the flirting, okay?" Carson said. "Keep things on a friends-only basis."

"Okay, Dad," Drew said glumly and sighed.

Trying to change the mood, Carson signaled for the check. "Okay!" he exclaimed. "On to the next item on today's agenda!" He rubbed his hands together like an evil scientist. "Hehehe..."

"Don't tell me! Putt-putt golf?" Drew exclaimed. "Again?"

"Excuse me!" Carson intoned. "That's 'Miniature Golf,' thankyouverymuch!"

"Aaargh," Drew moaned, but she was smiling. She never knew that her dad was such a good miniature golf player. And that he liked it so much. It was embarrassing. But understandable. After all, he played golf with his new cronies almost every weekend. It was actually more funny than embarrassing. And it was something that she got to share with her dad, so it was okay.

"Oh, come on!" Carson said. "You know you like it, too. Come on - I rarely get my way."

"Oh, all right!" Drew huffed theatrically, and then her expression turned mercenary. "Wanna bet again? A dollar per point over? Heheheh." It was their usual thing. The loser pays one dollar per point that the loser is over the winner's final score. Carson always won, but Drew never stops hoping. Besides, Drew knew he'd never really collect.

"Sure you can afford it? How much do you owe me now? A hundred gazillion dollars?"

Drew stuck her tongue out at him.

Eager Beaver Waiter came back with the check in less than a minute. Carson pulled out his credit card and gave it to the kid. He rocketed back to the cashier, and both Carson and Drew stifled their laughter.

-----

They went to a mini-golf course a few miles away, and they had a hilarious time, as always - missing putts, chasing golf balls through the artificial brush or not getting them through the windmill (there was always a windmill). Or just talking and being with each other. Drew would have preferred not being a girl, but she knew the reasons why, and she was mostly okay with it.

Drew, as always, spent a lot of time setting up her shots, but it never really helped. So, as she took her time to set up or to align her putts, her dad would disappear to the snack carts and would come back with a soda, a corn dog or fries in a Dixie cup (her dad was one of the few that still called paper cups Dixie cups). If he was having popcorn (since plain popcorn was the only thing Drew would allow herself to snack on), Drew would have raided his food and nothing would be left for him. So he learned early on never to buy popcorn. And as he got back, Drew would still be setting up.

At about the twelfth hole, Drew was already feeling down. She was already more than fifty over par while Carson was still almost par. Carson joked that maybe she needed glasses. Drew gave him a razzberry, and sat down at a nearby stone bench with a depressed sigh.

Carson felt bad for her and bought her a small diet coke and popcorn on his next food run. "Here," he said, handing her the popcorn and sitting down on the stone bench beside her. They sat there for a while. Somehow, Carson sensed it wasn't about the score. The sunshine was pretty nice in the mild spring weather. Carson put his arm around her shoulders.

"Why?" Carson asked.

Her dad could always read her - a fact she both loved and hated. Drew sighed. "Oh, nothing. I just wish that we did more of these things, you know, before."

Carson couldn't respond to that - he was actually thinking the same thing.

"Well," Carson said, tentatively, "in any case, I'll make sure we'll do more of this kind of thing from now on."

Drew hugged him tight. It was wonderful to have children, he thought.

After a while, Drew started paying attention to her snack.

"Dad?" she began as she munched on some popcorn. Carson took a handful for himself.

"Yeah?"

"After I finished with my, you know, research last night, and I was tidying up, I found a piece of paper with a weird note written on it. It was inside the big grandfather clock in the living room."

"Eh? Why was it inside the clock, and what were you doing fiddling with it?"

She then told him the circumstances of how she discovered the note and the picture. She couldn't completely remember the entire note word-for-word but told him what she could.

"Hmmm. I was wondering when this would happen," Carson said.

"Huh? What do you mean? You knew about the note?"

He sighed and smiled. "No, of course not. But ever since you were big enough to pick up a magnifying glass, you were always happiest when you were trying to solve mysteries. Sure, it started with little puzzle games and then mystery board games when you were little, and then when I got you that Junior Detective Investigator Kit, you got it in your head to try and be like Sherlock Holmes. And then all of those so-called cases you just had to solve. When you got older, you started getting into real police cases. Good thing the chief of police and his staff back home were tolerant..."

"What do you mean? I helped the police solve stuff!"

"My point exactly. And it was inevitable that you'd discover a new mystery to solve again." He smiled at her fondly. "In a way, it's good you have this new 'research project,' now that your part of our project is winding down and it's my turn now. It's good you have this new 'case' to work on to keep you occupied."

She looked at Carson steadily. She resented it a little bit, but as she thought it over, her dad was absolutely right about her. "So you're saying that I go for it?"

Carson nodded. "With the usual three provisions..."

Drew nodded exasperatedly. "Yeah, yeah... Don't obsess about it, don't let it interfere with schoolwork..."

"And the most important thing?"

"To be careful."

Carson nodded and gave her a one-armed hug around her shoulders. "So long as you be careful, it's okay by me."

She smiled and awkwardly returned the hug. "Too bad George and Bess aren't around anymore," she said. "It would sure be nice to have them around to help."

Carson paused. "Do you miss them?"

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

Drew thought about her old best friends, and gave her dad a small, melancholy smile. "Yeah," she said. "But I'm okay. Don't worry about me, Dad."

Carson cleared his throat, and tried to lighten the mood. "Well, you have new friends now. Why don't you break Iola and Callie in as your new junior detectives?"

Drew giggled.

"What?" Carson asked.

"I was just imagining Iola in her cheerleader outfit creeping around some dusty old house with my magnifying glass, looking for clues."

Carson laughed, too.

-----

After their putt-putt golf game where, predictably, Carson won again with eighty-one strokes (which was just one over par for the long course) and Drew with an all-time record high of two hundred seventy-eight over par, they went to the Best Buy nearest Central Park, which was at 86th and Lexington. Conveniently, there was inside parking right beside it, and they were able to park off-street.

When they got to the Best Buy, they knew what they wanted: they looked for two main things - nonlinear junction detectors and radio frequency scanners - nonlinear junction detectors are used to detect "harmonics" in a radio transmitter, and RF scanners are used to detect radio signals.

Carson ranged up and down the shelves towing a "reluctant" Drew (who was actually directing him where to go). Carson was irritated by the young clerks who were tagging after them, trying to help, but were actually trying to chat Drew up. He didn't realize it at the time, but he was acting like the stereotypical dad with a pretty teenage daughter.

Anyway, they finally found the detectors and scanners near the back of the store.

A nonlinear junction detector is used to detect harmonics that a radio transmitter's electronics sends out when exposed to an appropriate electromagnetic signal, whether it's turned on or off. The particular model of detector they got looked like an extra-long handheld metal detector wand, and had a twenty-foot detection radius. It was one of the more expensive kinds, and they got two of them.

A radio frequency scanner, on the other hand, just scans for radio signals. The one they got looked like a small amplifier from a home sound system, and had a detection radius big enough to encompass their entire house. The clerks found it, well, unusual, that Drew measured the scanner with a tape measure she borrowed from one of the clerks, and then went to their radio section. Drew found a Harman amp that was on sale, with dimensions larger than the scanner's.

While she was doing that, Carson also got a couple of hand-held scanners that looked like small walkie talkies, with the same functions as the big one but with a much smaller detection radius. These would be their tools to zero in on specific devices.

They also bought a couple of Faraday Cage kits, a couple of cradle-type cell phone signal boosters with antennae and extra-long cables.

Carson pushed the shopping cart with their purchases, along with some odds-and-ends that Drew had also picked up, like electrical tape, a roll of electrical phone wire, an electrician's toolbox, a bunch of electronic parts, a soldering gun, soldering flux and a roll of solder wire. Drew tried to look bored, but Carson knew it was just an act since Drew loved fiddling with electronics. In fact, at the last moment, Drew picked up a large box, which turned out to be a ready-to-go, plug-and-play surveillance kit with six all-weather lipstick cameras. Drew also picked up a roll of small-gauge wire and half a dozen memory cards.

As she was walking away, she saw a shelf full of what was touted as "surveillance equipment." It was just a bunch of novelty items like clocks and pens that had built-in cameras.

Intrigued, she walked over and picked up one of the pens. From a distance, it looked like a regular pen. She checked and, yes, it did write. There were other doodads like a wall charger, a universal wall socket adapter, a power adapter, and a wall clock.

The little instruction booklet for the pen explained how it worked, and she thought these things might come in useful. She got a bunch of them and put them in her basket.

Drew made a last stop at the office supplies section, and picked up a couple of those boxes you sometimes see on office desks, where you put odds and ends like paper clips, post-its and pencils. She also grabbed several of those computer sleeves that people use to carry laptops around and added them to the pile.

At the register, Carson didn't pull out his card but paid cash instead, and they went back to their car with their purchases.

They then drove to a small dessert-type place six blocks away on 1st Avenue, between 87th and 88th, called the Choux Factory.

"I hear they make great cream puffs," Carson said.

"Heard from whom," Drew giggled and winked. "Mrs. Lovett again?" She elbowed him in the ribs, which wasn't that easy to do in the car.

"Oh, shut up..." Carson said, a little irritated but also a little amused.

"She's pretty hot for an older chick, y'know," Drew said, giggled again, and dug him in the ribs again.

"Oh, Drew..." Carson sighed mock-exasperatedly.

Indeed, the neighbor was a good-looking older woman, in the mold of Ann-Margret - the middle-aged Ann-Margret, that is. No wonder her dad visited with the pretty widow every chance he got, or have her over for dinner or something. Far from resenting the lady, Drew approved. Her only real worry was if Mrs. Lovett ever found out about her...

They parked in the street just outside the little patisserie, and had a nice lunch of paninis with prosciutto, curd cheese and sage, and chased them down with glasses of virgin sangrias. Their desserts were, or course, the store's famous cream puffs. As they ate, they talked about how to set up their new equipment in the house.

When they were done, Carson bought a half dozen cream puffs to go, per Drew's suggestion, to give to Mrs. Lovett later.

Carson dropped Drew off near the 5th Avenue entrance of Central Park, near East 106th, making arrangements to pick her and her friends up at the same spot at about five. Drew waved goodbye and had a healthy walk to the pool, equivalent to a couple of blocks, but she preferred that route because she'd walk by the Sisters of Charity plaque where the agreed dead-drop for Lieutenant Hardy was.

She saw the trashcan. It was the only one there, and it was painted black - not unusual by itself, but all the other trashcans in the park were painted green.

She casually dropped the folded-up and scrunched-up manila envelope in the pre-agreed trashcan, though gingerly holding it at the corner with her thumb and finger as she did, making sure to not get fingerprints on it.

Having done the deed, she relaxed and proceeded on to Lasker Pool, nodding to the kids looking at her. She forced herself not to search for Lieutenant Hardy.

Getting to the pool, she met Iola and Callie by the gate, and after paying for their tickets, they went and got lockers next to each other in the women's showers.

She took off her tank and skirt, leaving her clad in her one-piece maillot (and hidden gaff) and flip-flops, and noticed Iola and Callie, also in their suits, looking at her.

It was the first time they'd seen Drew dressed this way. Humorously, she struck a pose. "You liiike?" she said, one of Jane's favorite lines, fervently hoping that the gaff would work as expected.

"You're pretty good looking, Drew," Callie said, and gave her a hug. "And a little dieting will just make you even more steamin' sexy-hot!"

"You're saying I'm fat?" Drew huffed.

"God, no! But more exercise and dieting will give you even more curves." Callie ran her hands over Drew's waist and hips to demonstrate. Drew tried not to react to the touch. Did Callie notice?

Iola looked at her critically. "Really, Drew. Who wears that anymore?" She indicated Drew's suit. "Why didn't you pick that cute violet bikini we bought last time?"

Drew thought a little acting would get her off the hook, so she shyly looked down at her left foot. "I guess I got scared, y'know," she said in a small voice. "I've never worn anything as extreme as that..."

Iola looked at her friend disbelievingly. Drew, the latest trendy fashion plate to come to school, and she'd never worn a bikini. Iola shook her head, thinking that Drew would never cease to amaze her.

Iola went and gave her a hug. She noted that, despite Drew's softness, the girl felt all muscle inside. Drew was truly something else.

"That's all right, girlfriend," Iola said. "You look great, actually." Iola pulled back to look her up and down critically. Iola knew she was just being catty with her first words. Drew's curves were actually very sexy, in a girl-next-door kind of way.

Drew, for her part, marveled at Iola's softness and scent. Thank goodness for the gaff. She was actually worried that Iola would notice the gaff but the lines of the built-in skirt hid the line the gaff made in the suit, plus she kept her legs together to make sure.

Since they were both in bathing suits, she felt safe to look Iola up and down herself. She'd always thought she looked great, but Iola in a bikini... wow! She looked at Callie, too. Wow squared!

"So, are we going swimming or what?" Callie said.

"Let's do it," Iola said, slammed her locker door closed and pulled her friends to the poolside.

Following her friends' example, Drew got her big towel, her sunglasses, her bottle of sunscreen and her locker key. She didn't have a safety pin she could use to pin the key to the inside of her suit like the others, but her one-piece did have a little pocket hidden in the line of the token skirt, just like the men's trunks and board shorts she was used to, so she slipped her key in there instead. She also didn't take off her white Tissot T-Touch wristwatch, saying to herself that she needed to know the time so she wouldn't miss her dad. Besides, it was waterproof. Actually, she just wanted to show off her new watch - white google watches were the current fashion accessories for girls in their school, and her new Tissot was what most everyone around her school wanted.

There weren't a lot of people, but enough that staking a claim to a nice poolside spot wasn't easy. Still, they were able to find a nice free spot, where they laid out their towels, put on their shades, sat down and started putting lotion on each other. Drew kept her legs together, one leg straight and the other sort of wrapped around the other, trying to hide her... package without looking like she was. She needn't have worried - Callie just thought Drew was trying to vamp up her look and, thinking that it made Drew look sexier, Iola copied her.

Drew looked around and was amazed at all the people. It was so different compared to lazy old River Heights. She felt a bit provincial but she eventually got used to it. After an hour of sunbathing and lazy chatting, and giving the crowd an eyeful, they all had a dip in the pool. Drew was glad to be in the water after not being able to swim for such a long time. She ranged the pool from end to end, showing off her skill and form as a competition-class swimmer. Some of the boys around her tried to keep up, and perhaps show off for the pretty blonde, but she sped up and left all of them in her wake.

After maybe a dozen laps though, Drew had to come in, tuckered out from the unaccustomed exercise.

"Wow, girl," Callie exclaimed as Drew floated near "their" spot. "Where'd you learn to do that?" Iola wasn't around.

Drew was about to say she was a JV swimmer in her old school, but stopped herself in time.

"I guess I picked it up from somewhere," she ended up saying lamely. But Callie wasn't really listening. She had jumped out of the pool and gone somewhere near the concession stands.

Drew was still bobbing up and down, holding onto the side and resting, when Callie came back, having rented some "swimming pool inner tubes." Callie threw them into the pool, one landing right beside Drew.

Drew was just the right size so that she was able to lay across and on top of it yet keep balanced and afloat, and drifted around catching her breath and relaxing. She remembered to keep her legs together, though.

Callie came paddling up beside her, also laying across her inner tube as well. "Nice, huh?" she said, her left hand holding their sunglasses.

"Hand me my glasses," Drew asked. With her wayfarers on, she pushed off the side and drifted further into the middle, away from everyone, relaxing and soaking in the sun.

"Yep, it's nice," Drew belatedly answered languidly, and the two of them floated alone in the middle of the pool. "Where's Iola?"

"She's back there watching our stuff," Callie snorted, gesturing at where they came from, "trying to impress some boys."

"From what you've told me, she always does that. Why is it bothering you now?"

"Well, yeah... I guess..."

"But?"

"I guess I sometimes feel Iola just keeps me around to help her get attention."

Drew sort of sat up in the inner tube and looked at Callie. Her fanny dipped into the water so she squirmed around to stay on top of the inner tube.

"That's not true, and you know it."

Callie shrugged.

"Don't tell me you're jealous after all this time?"

"I don't know. I guess when it was just the two of us we were fine, and the times it was just us, I was perfectly happy to not be, whatchamacallit... the 'alpha.' You know what I mean?"

Drew looked at her in sympathy and nodded. "I do."

"But now, it's like she's competing with me even if I'm not. Like I'm a rival."

"Rival? For boys' attentions?"

She shook her head. "No. For your attention."

Drew looked at her. "What are you saying, Callie?"

Callie looked away. "I don't want to ruin things..."

Drew paddled and brought her inner tube closer to hers. "You won't," she said. "I promise."

Callie sighed. "I know you like Iola," she said reluctantly, in a tone that made Drew realize that she wasn't really hiding her emotions well, at least as far as Iola was concerned. At least Drew's blush was hidden by her newly developing tan.

Drew was about to protest, but Callie waved it away. "It's obvious, Drew," she said. "But you're safe, Iola doesn't have a clue." She shrugged. "I'm not saying you don't have a chance. I just don't think Iola swings that way, but you know how she is - always willing to try something new. So you may have a chance. And you ARE her friend."

Drew tried to sound clueless. "Swings what way?" Drew asked lamely.

"You know - girls liking girls." Callie looked at her. "I think you're scared to admit you like Iola."

Drew didn't know if she was happy with that or not. On the one hand, she was able to fool Iola and Callie - they still thought she was a real girl. On the other hand...

Callie paddled closer so that their heads were as close to each other as she could make it despite the tube. "Iola and I talked about being a lez once," she said in quiet, private tones. "She said that it wouldn't really bother her if a girl fell for her, and could imagine the possibility of falling for a girl herself, and said it would probably be cool, but it would have to be a real special girl, like you."

"She thinks I'm a special girl?" Drew thought. She worried what that meant... Had she been found out?

"Dammit, Drew!" Callie cried in frustration "For a genius, how can you be so obtuse! If you only knew how I... how people think of you. You have to give yourself more credit!" And then, she paused and her voice toned down. "But I guess that's part of why you're special to me. Imagine if you were like Iola - so aware of how people looked at her. Imagine how insufferable you'd be." Callie giggled a little.

Drew giggled with her, though she did so half in relief. "I know what you mean," Drew responded, shaking off her paranoid thoughts and bringing them to focus on the conversation more. This was obviously a big deal for Callie.

"But Iola isn't really like that," Drew continued. "She's actually one of the nicest girls I know. Once you get to know her and get past her gossip-girl persona, that is."

Callie sighed. "Yeah," she agreed. "I suppose that was one of the reasons I really tried to be close to her, aside from her being one of the cool, popular girls in school, and being so gorgeous and everything... but I guess she never really liked me in that way. I guess I had to be happy with just being her best friend."

Drew put her sunglasses on top of her head, reached out and put Callie's own sunglasses on top of her head, too, so she could look into her eyes.

"Why are you telling me all this, Callie?" she asked, afraid of the answer.

"Drew, I AM one those girls..."

"You..."

"I swing that way, you know. I... like girls. Now, I don't know if my telling you means we can't be friends anymore..."

Drew reached out and held her hand. "I don't care about that, Callie. I swear."

Callie looked at her, a small hopeful smile on her face. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Okay..." she said in a small voice, and smiled in relief.

Drew let go of her hand and paddled even closer.

"I'm your friend, Callie. That won't change."

Callie nodded.

"But that just can't be it," Drew said. "There's something more, right?"

Callie nodded, and then looked away.

Drew held her hand again. "After that bombshell, you really think anything else can shake our friendship?"

Callie giggled a little shyly.

"C'mon - tell me." Drew shifted positions. "Or else, I'm gonna tip you in the water." She experimentally shook Callie's tube.

"Don't you dare!" she exclaimed, and they both laughed.

After a moment, Drew asked again. "Tell me."

"It's just that I like you... In that way... y'know?"

Drew looked at her blankly, not comprehending. "What?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Callie cried. "I just couldn't help it! There... now, I ruined it..." She looked like she was about to cry.