Chapter 8

We went to bed early and made love gently. We slept in since we had nothing on our calendars for Monday. For us, that meant that we weren't showered and dressed and breakfasted shortly after eight. In our town, we could be almost anywhere in thirty minutes. We headed in to C and C figuring to get any confrontation resolved early and quickly.

We came in and Annie stood up and came to us hugging us both. "Lisa, Al, it's good to have you back." She looked at Lisa closely and grinned. "You were successful. I can tell."

Lisa nodded. "I think we will conceive all our children on that island. We needed the time and to get our tans even."

Annie exclaimed, "You mean you're naked on that island!"

Lisa grinned. "Very naked! After all, there's no one there but Al and me except for Saturday mornings when they clean and restock unless you call for something. We didn't call. Except for that Saturday and our arriving and leaving, the most we wore was a pair of sandals each. Other than that we were naked as jaybirds."

I said, "Nakeder. Jaybirds have feathers." We all laughed together.

Annie said, "I don't think Frederick has seen me naked in the daylight ever."

Lisa said, "You ought to try it. I bet both of you would like it. You don't have any kids still at home. Unless you tell people, no one will know about your scandalous behavior." She chuckled.

Annie smiled. "I may try that just to shock Frederick."

Lisa said, "Just be ready for a strong, happy reaction." Both ladies chuckled.

Annie became business-like. "I have your messages and mail arranged on your desks. I talked to a few who called and left notes on those conversations."

I said, "Thank you. I appreciate your good work."

We went into our office and Pam came in from an appointment around ten. She brought Frankie in with her to our office. She said, "Frankie wants to say something to both of you."

Frankie said, "Missus Lisa, Mister Al, again, I apologize to both of you now in person for my actions. I know now that they were wrong and even more wrong in public. I will wait for Laura to be born before I try to be close to her." He paused. "My mother and Laura threatened me about acting properly even after Laura is born. I'll be good and I'll be good for her, too."

Pam took Frankie back to her office to lay him down for a while. She came back in. I said, "It seems strange to talk to someone so young who sounds so mature."

Pam laughed. "That's not strange. You two are talking to your unborn daughter! That's strange!

"I am glad we cleared the air. That issue did need to be resolved. Now, I'm going to get on with the rest of my day." She smiled as she left.

We read mail and returned calls until lunch. We went out to a local restaurant. A number of people asked us if our vacation had been successful. Obviously, our plan seemed to be common knowledge in town. I just smiled and said, "We believe it was very successful. Thanks."

We returned to the office and worked through the items that needed some attention. We planned to spend a day at each of our two companies. It was the later part of the middle of the afternoon when I received a call from Lois. She said, "Mister Al, could you see me this afternoon? Is Missus Lisa there?"

I said, "Hello, Lois. The answers are yes and yes. What time do you want to come?"

"I'm just a few minutes away. Is now convenient?"

"Yes, it is. Come on."

Less than five minutes later, she and Jeremy walked into the offices. We invited them in and to have seats. I said, "It's always good to see you. This must be important. What can we do?"

Lois looked troubled. "We're not sure what to do. Jeremy heard something that worries us. We don't sure what to do about it.

"Jer', you tell them what you heard, all of it."

From the Sunday school class, I had noticed that Jeremy was a quiet young man who seemed to listen really well. I had noticed that the guys and girls in the class would talk to him readily. Jeremy said, "People talk around me and to me easily. I know many people's dreams and aspirations. I also don't talk about what I've heard even to Lois. That makes this tough but I'm worried. I was listening to a group of five junior boys talk about Karen and John. They were jealous of John because Karen is so hot. There is an additional problem because Karen made them mad by accident. She and John take a number of advanced courses and these five boys are in one with her. On the last test, she scored well while the rest of the class didn't leaving little room to curve the grades.

"They were talking about getting 'even' with her. They figured that they could humiliate John in the process. They plan to grab them tomorrow afternoon. I know the plan and think I know the place. I just don't know what to do. If I tell Mister Edwards, he will get mad and hurt them and might get in trouble. If they chicken out and don't do anything, it will be okay. However, they are mad and I am afraid that they may carry their plan through.

"Mister Al, Lois says you can take care of things. You have rescued Missus Lisa, Missus Pam, and Missus Melody from being hurt. You know the cops and they listen to you. Would you help?"

Before I could say anything, Lisa said, "He will help and do whatever is needed. You two need to be our spies. Al is not exactly a high school student and doesn't look like he's helpless. If he shows up too early, they will run away. As much as I hate to say it, I think we need to give those boys enough rope to hang themselves or we will just make them madder."

Jeremy nodded. "If you think I should go to the police, I will but nothing has happened yet."

I said, "The police will listen but really can't do anything unless something happens. Then it will be too late. Tell me their plan."