Slowly, reluctantly, she untensed her body and let go of herself. Still no knocking. She counted, extremely slowly, to sixty. Every number, she expect...d to hear the knocking resume, but nothing happened. She didn’t want to believe it (oh, yes she did!) But it looked like whoever it was had gone away at last. Very, very quietly, she sighed in relief and slid the pillow off of her head. And Professor Doakes was standing over the bed, looking at her. Jessica scrambled backwards so fast she fell. Not having any idea who it could be, I looked thru the peephole, and it was James. Surprised, and a bit curious, I let him in.He knew James wasn’t home, and that’s the reason he stopped, he said. He said he had a gift that he got his brother, that he forgot to give him earlier. He told me he just wanted to drop it off, so it was here for him to open in the morning. I told him to stick around a few moments, that he didn’t have to leave so quick. I mean, he was staying at his parents, and they. I need you to cover the office. Brad and I will be back soon.”“But...”
“Just do it, Nikki. Thatʼs an order.”Within seconds Linda and Brad were out the door and pulling away in the cruiser.“Roger Mansfield?” said Linda as she and Brad approached the bay where a mechanic was bent over the engine of a late model car.“Who wants to know?” came the reply as the ruggedly handsome man straightened up, his imposing frame towering over Linda and almost two inches taller than Brad.“Iʼm Linda Raintree,. I was stretched out, almost horizontal across the three seats getting a little nap under one of the soft, blue blankets that were so comfortable that I had an urge to steal one. I knew that was not an option because they wouldn’t fit into my economy-sized backpack designed for carry-on luggage.The passengers were a geriatric blend of Baltic upper-class mostly returning from a shopper’s tour of the decadent west.All of the crew spoke grammatically correct English and they seemed on their best.