by Clark Graham
Barry admired it and even used Bob’s turn table feature to slowly spin it around. Ignoring the pitcher comment, he said, “Yes, I do like this vase better.”
A few minutes later there was a knock on the door. Rosita went and answered it. To Barry’s surprise, it was the girl with the China doll face. “Hello.”
“Can I talk to you, I mean, in private?”
“Sure, let’s go out on the back patio.” Barry was nervous. He asked right away when they went out the door, “Are you packing?”
“Sorry, the shotgun was never loaded. It was an old gun that my grandfather and I used to shoot trap with. My dad inherited it when Grandpa died, but kept it out in the shed. It rusted out there and now it doesn’t work.”
“Still, it was very scary for me.”
“Sorry.”
“You wanted to say something?”
“I want the battery. Please, can we work something out so I can get it back?”
Barry just shook his head. “I don’t have your battery. I never did. I don’t even know what it looks like. I thought you said Donald stole it.”
She sat down. A tear gently rolled down her cheek. “I spent months developing it. I spent money I didn’t have. I just want it back.”
He sat down beside her. “What is a Rex battery anyway?”
“It’s a Reverse Axial Battery. It has a titanium alloy core that has been pulsed with a large reverse polar electrical charge on one side. The other side is normal. As the one side discharges, it charges the other side. Then when that side is charged, and the other side is drained it reverses the process. The battery charges back and forth for around six months. Imagine what it would mean to the world, having a battery that can power a car and run constantly for six months? Oil wouldn’t matter anymore, natural gas, either. We would have clean energy. Smog would go away. It would solve global warming.”
“That would be quite something, not to mention making billions for the inventor. Was that you, by the way?”
“It was what my father was working on when he was killed. I perfected it and was trying it out in my car, but my car was broken into. I had the paperwork about the battery in the glove compartment. When the thief saw it, he opened up the hood and took the battery, too.”
“So he has the battery and the paperwork.”
She heaved a large sigh. “I caught up with the thief. He was caught breaking into someone else’s car. I visited him in jail. He told me he had sold the battery to Fred Kasper, so I looked up the address, only it was dark and I got the wrong house. Sorry about your urn, by the way. I bumped it. I didn’t expect a pedestal in the middle of the room.”
“Vase.” It was useless at this point, but he felt he had to try.
“Anyway, Donald was at the right address. He stole the battery and the next night he went back for the paperwork. He said he was going to give them back to me, but someone took them before he could. Then when he met you at the restaurant, he was sure that you had them, by the way you were talking.”
Barry leaned back. “I just wanted to know what it was. When I asked him, he took off. I hope he didn’t lose his job.”
“Who cares? I’m not so sure he would have given them to me. It could make someone very rich.”
“Or a lot of someone’s. Does he have any idea who could have stolen it?”
“Donald thought his roommate had, since he took off right after the battery disappeared, but when he talked to you, he wasn’t sure anymore.”
“It wasn’t me. I’ve never laid eyes on it. I would like to see it someday It certainly has caused me a lot of trouble.”
She let out a nervous giggle. “I’m sorry I dragged you in to this.” Standing up, she walked into the house. “Oh, my,” she walked up to the still revolving vase. “It is beautiful.”
“And in a safer place.”
She looked around the house, as if she was seeing it for the first time. “This place is huge.”
“It was my father’s. I just live here.”
“Lunch is ready. Do you want to invite your guest?” Eva announced.
“No, no. I must be going.” She leaned over and whispered, “Your wife is beautiful.”
He whispered back, “That’s the cook. I’m no longer married.”
Smiling, she said, “Your cook is beautiful.”
“Yes, she is, and she’s engaged to a great guy I haven’t met yet.”
“I see. Have a great day.”
“I hope you find what you are looking for.”
“Me, too.”
After she left, Barry went in and sat at the table with Bob, Eva, and Rosita.
“Who’s your friend?” Eva asked. She raised her eyebrows. “She seems nice. Oh, and as cute as a button.”
Barry’s eyes widened. “I forgot to ask her name.”
Chapter 9
Barry couldn’t stand it anymore. Despite having just eaten, he walked down to the Country Club restaurant to see if he could find Donald. He had to know the girl’s name.
The place wasn’t busy when he arrived. He looked around, but he couldn’t see Donald at all.
“Yes, Sir, how many will there be today?” The hostess smiled.
“I’m looking for Donald. I wanted to talk to him for a minute.”
“He had an emergency. I think he went to Spokane.”
“He’s gone?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Thank you.” Barry headed back up to his house. He stopped at the bottom of his drive and looked down at the city. He could see almost all of it. It was the view he had grown up with, but every once in a while he would stop to admire it. Snob hill. He thought. The whole town was jealous of what he had, yet he didn’t appreciate it. What am I going to do? How am I going to find her?
Not knowing what else to do, he walked into the house.
“Last night’s dinner is still in the fridge. You really should eat it soon, or I’ll have to throw it out. Mom and I are going shopping for the wedding, so we’re leaving early. Have a nice night.”
“Okay, thanks.” He waved as they left.
Alone again. He sank down heavily into the easy chair and debated about turning on the TV and tuning out the world. Looking outside, he realized it was still daylight. A good day for a drive, he thought.
He climbed in the Ferrari and headed down the hill. He hadn’t gone too far when he saw the girl again, pushing a bike with a flat tire. Pulling over, he asked, “Can I take you somewhere?”
She looked over. “Hi.” Scanning his car she said, “You’ve got no room in that thing for my bike. I don’t want to abandon it.”
Barry thought for a minute. “Here, I know what we can do. You drive and I’ll handle the bike.”
“What? I can’t drive that.”
He hopped out of the car and took the handlebars. “You don’t have a license?”
“I do, but I don’t drive a stick.”
“No problem, I’ll tell you when to put in the clutch and will even shift the gears for you.”
By that time, he had the bike at the other side of the car and had sat down. She shook her head and got in.
He lined her bike up with the car and had one hand in the middle of the steering wheel to guide the bike and the other hand ready to shift. “Okay, put in the clutch.”
When she did, he pushed the gear shifter into first. “Now, slowly let off the clutch while you push on the gas.”
The car chugged forward a couple of times and then stalled. “I can’t do this, I tell you.”
“No problem, nobody gets it the first time. Start the car and we’ll try again.”
After three tries, she was finally able to get the car moving and headed slowly down the street. “Where are we going?”
“To your place to drop off the bike.” He smiled to himself, feeling so clever.
“But then you’ll know where I live.”
“Is that a problem?”
“Of course, it is. I tried to rob you at gun point.”
> “Put in the clutch. It’s time to shift to second.”
She did so without stalling. The car did chug a little when she let off the clutch, though.
“Hey, that wasn’t so bad.”
“No, you’re getting the hang of it.”
The bike was wobbling a little, but Barry managed to keep it from hitting the car as they drove. A few minutes later, she pulled in front of a bike shop.
“They’ll fix it for me. Thanks for the ride.”
He was crestfallen. “But, I don’t even know your name.”
“I know. I like it better that way.”
He jumped out of the car and started wheeling her bike to the shop. Heaving a big sigh, he said, “Will I ever see you again?”
“If you can steal back the battery, I’ll come calling.”
He gave a slight laugh. “I guess you’ll need a new lab partner now that Donald has gone back to Spokane.”
Her eyes went wide. “Donald’s not from Spokane. He’s from Seattle. His roommate was from Spokane. He’s after the battery. How fast does this car of yours go?”
“Really fast.”
“Just a minute.” She pushed her bike inside the shop and then came right back out. “Let’s go.”
“To Spokane?”
“Yes, we’ve got to get that battery before Donald does.”
Chapter 10
What am I doing? Barry asked himself as he watched the Columbia River pass below him. The bridge was wide and surprisingly empty of cars. It was eight at night and he was heading east on the freeway. The blonde next to him was asleep. She had conked out after just fifteen minutes on the road. He stole a glance over at her as he drove along. She was very pretty. He knew nothing about this girl, her name, her age or where she was from. Her age. Is she a minor? He looked at her closely. No, I don’t think so. I hope not. He could think of a lot of charges that could stem from transporting a minor across state lines. What am I doing? He wondered again.
They had left at the spur of the moment. He thought briefly about going home and packing a suitcase, but she was anxious to beat Donald to Spokane.
By the time he was east of the mountains, he was starting to nod off. Not only that, but he was hungry and needing to stop.
When he pulled off the freeway and slowed down, her head jerked up and she looked around. “Are we here?”
“Not yet. We’re in Kennewick. Spokane is another two hours, at least.”
“Keep driving, then.”
“I’m out of gas, I’m starving, and I’m falling asleep. We aren’t going any farther tonight.”
“But, we have to beat Donald there.”
“Isn’t this a bit of a wild goose chase? We are after a Donald, no last name, of course, who has a roommate. We don’t know the roommate’s name or where he lives, but we have to beat Donald there. It’s really hard to cross the finish line first, when you don’t know where it is. I have half a mind to bag this whole misadventure and start driving home.” He felt his face starting to flush. “After I get some gas, of course.”
“You can’t go back. What about the battery? Don’t you want to change the world?”
“No, I had my day planned out. Well, sorta. I know for a fact saving that world wasn’t on my list of things to do.”
She folded her arms and sat back in her seat, scowling.
Ignoring her, he pulled into the gas station and filled up.
When he sat back down in the car, he asked, “Do you see anywhere to eat around here?”
“There’s a McDonald’s right around the corner.” She said in a gruff voice, arms still folded.
“McDonald’s? What do they serve?”
She sat forward and looked at him. “You’ve never eaten at a McDonald’s?”
“I can’t say that I have.”
“How about a hamburger? Have you ever had one of those?”
“Yes, of course, my cook makes the best avocado burger you’ve ever eaten.”
“That would be very true, because I’ve never eaten an avocado burger. I can’t think of anything that sounds less appealing right now.”
“That makes us even. You haven’t had an avocado burger, and I haven’t eaten at McDonald’s.”
“Well, it’s going to get uneven right now. Pull up to the drive through.”
Stopping at the drive through menu board, Barry nearly came out of his skin when, someone said through the speaker, “May I take your order?”
“Um, just a minute.” He turned to her and asked, “What should I order?”
She leaned over him and talked into the mike. “Two number ones, and supersize those, please.”
“What do you want to drink?”
“Two extra large cokes.”
“That will be twelve thirty at the second window please.”
“Second window?”
“Just pull forward. I’ll tell you when to stop.”
The car was so low, it barely cleared the bottom of the window. He had to reach way up to get his food.
“I’ve never seen anyone pay at McDonald’s with an American Express before.”
He looked at her for a minute, “Should I have not? They took it.”
“I didn’t think they would. Shows you what I know.” She looked around for a minute. “Where’s your cup holder?”
“It doesn’t have one.”
“Who makes a car without a cup holder?”
“Ferrari.”
She looked at him and sighed. “Okay, I’ll hold your drink. You drive. This should be enough caffeine to keep you awake for two hours. If not, you can have my drink, too.”
“We’re going to eat in the car?”
“Don’t tell me you’ve never eaten in a car before.”
“Certainly not this one.”
She started shaking her head. “What planet are you from, anyway?”
He popped it into gear and popped the clutch. A little of the soda spilled on her lap. “Hey, watch it.”
“Oops, sorry,” he said with a smile.
Chapter 11
“What now, Princess?” Barry said as they drove into Spokane.
“Princess?”
“You won’t tell me your name. What am I supposed to call you?”
She smiled. “Princess works fine.”
“We’re here. What’s the plan?” The two sodas had worked. He was wide awake but in need of a bathroom.
“Now we figure out where Donald’s roommate lives.”
Not replying, he pulled into a motel.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m establishing a base of operation while you figure out where we go next.”
“But…”
He didn’t wait for the rest of the sentence. He was a man on a mission. He walked into the lobby and found the men’s room.
He checked in a few minutes later. While talking to the clerk, he watched her out of the lobby window. She was making one phone call after another. She is really quite pretty. He thought. Pretty had come with a cost last time. He sighed and went back outside.
“Remind me why I am doing this?”
“To get the Rex battery back.” She shook her head. “Millions of dollars, remember? Anyway, I called Donald’s cell on the pretense of the lab project that’s due. He told me his roommate’s name. Okay, I said the guy was cute and I wanted to go with him, even, though I’ve never seen the roommate before. I googled him, and here’s his address and his picture. Albert Sweeney.” She showed him the phone. “Let’s go.”
“It’s eleven o’clock at night. Nobody’s going to answer the door this late.”
“I wasn’t planning on using the door. Just drive me over there and I’ll do the rest.”
“That makes me an accomplice.”
“Okay, let’s just stake out the place and see what’s happening.”
“Right, nobody’s going to notice a bright red Ferrari parked on the street with two people in it who are staring in the windows.”
“What do
you suggest, then?” She folded her arms.
“I suggest we get a good night’s sleep. In the morning, we rent a van. A white one. Nobody notices a white van. We park on the street and scope out the place for a couple of hours. When Albert comes home, we politely ask for the battery back.”
“I don’t think that’s going to work.”
“I think we try that before we both get arrested for burglary.”
Sighing, she said, “Fine.”
“Here’s your room key. I couldn’t get two rooms together, so yours is down a ways from mine. Good night.”
She looked at the key and then looked up at him. There was a crease in her forehead, as if she wanted to ask a question, but didn’t. “Good night then.”
Barry walked into his room. It had pea-green walls and dingy carpet. The bedspread looked as if it had survived World War II, but just barely. What am I doing?
He didn’t have anything to change into, so he just hopped into bed in his clothes, falling right to sleep.
The pounding on the door seemed to rattle the entire room. Barry woke up startled. Sunlight streamed into the window. The pounding continued as he crawled out of bed. He reached the door and opened it.
“I just saw Donald drive by. Come on, let’s go.”
“What?” He was still out of it.
She grabbed his hand and pulled him out the door. “We need to go now.”
“Let me get some shoes on, at least,” he protested. He sat back down on the bed. When he went to put the one shoe on, she was already putting the other on for him.
“Let’s go, I said.” He followed her out the door. “Turn left out of the parking lot. If you hurry, you can still catch him.”
Sitting down, he started up the car and drove off, going a lot faster than the speed limit.
“There he is. Slow down. Pull in behind him. He’s in the white car.”
“I think he’s going to notice a Ferrari following him.”
“Oh, you and your Ferrari. You’re not as noticeable as you think you are.”
He pulled in behind, but saw the driver checking the rear view mirror every two to three seconds. “He’s seen us.”