by GSDana

Originally published at Zap's Trixie FanFic Site August 22, 2000.

Wannabe Author’s Notes:  We’re almost there!!!  Again, I must declare my lack of knowledge about how to get a PI’s license in the State of New York.  Please, I beg of you, if my scenario is unrealistic, willfully suspend your disbelief.  Thanks! :)

Chapter 10:  Contemplation

Of course  , Trixie reflected, sitting around doing nothing but contemplating your life is easier said than done.  It was Wednesday afternoon and Trixie was sitting at the apartment waiting for Hallie to get back from one of the classes she had chosen to take over the summer and Dan to finish his shift.  Boredom had definitely set in.  She kept in close phone contact with her friends, but she had agreed not to leave the apartment alone.  She began to resent her stalker for taking away her freedom.  It might not have been so bad if Hallie hadn’t decided to take a full course load that summer in addition to her part-time job waitressing to pick up some extra cash.  As a rookie, Dan also put in extra long hours. “Stir crazy” was a phrase Trixie was definitely becoming in tune with.

Di had called to say she had gotten no new information from the florists, as Trixie had expected.  Di wanted so much to help Trixie, but didn’t know what to do.  Trixie had jokingly stated that Di could help her stay sane by spending time with her.  The black-haired beauty had quickly agreed and told her sister-in-law that she would take Friday off from the museum and spend the day with Trixie in  New York.  Trixie had protested, but Di was adamant.  After she agreed with the plan, Trixie began to look forward to a day with Di.

Mart had reported no unusual activity with Jeff Higgins.  He seemed to be honestly trying to make a fresh start with his life, and was attending night classes at  Westchester Community College.  Trixie had never thought that Jeff Higgins was behind her stalking, but as there had been no stalker activity at all in the past three days, she still couldn’t rule out Jeff as a possibility.

Honey was studying to take the test required to obtain a PI license in  New York, which kept her pretty busy.  Trixie felt guilty because she knew that Honey would be distracted from studying due to worry over her.  To try to quiet her pangs of guilt, she had quizzed Honey on the phone for over an hour the last two nights.  Honey really seemed to know her stuff, and Trixie knew she would pass the examination with flying colors.

Alex had called an hour before to say that he had found nothing suspicious on any of the other characters that Trixie and the BWGs had put in prison.  Tilney Britten’s visitor was indeed his nephew, and the tail had found no suspicious activity.  However, he could not be ruled out as yet for the same reason Jeff Higgins could not be ruled out—unless the stalker made a move that these two didn’t, they were still suspects.

Jim had called several times, sometimes from his cell phone while he was tailing Jeff, something Trixie was eternally grateful for, and sometimes just to say hi.  Neither of them mentioned Trixie’s pertinent question about Jim’s willingness to disrupt his schedule for her.  Despite the fact that Trixie knew it probably wasn’t healthy, these were the phone calls she enjoyed and looked forward to the most.

The phone rang just then and Trixie grabbed it, glad for human contact.

“Trix, it’s your favorite older brother,” a smooth voice said.

“You must have the wrong number, I don’t like either of my older brothers,” Trixie replied in a teasing tone.

“Well, in that case, I guess I won’t be taking you out to dinner this evening after all,” Brian chuckled.

“Dinner?  Human contact?  A trip out in public?  Why, Brian, favorite brother of mine,” Trixie laughed.

“I know how miserable you must be, Trix, and I have one of my rare evenings off, so I thought I’d take my favorite sister out to dinner.”

“I love you, Brian Belden!”  Trixie said fervently.

“Wow—you must really have it bad!”  Brian exclaimed.

“You have no idea.”

“I’ll be leaving here in about an hour, barring any emergencies, so let me go home real quick, take care of some things, and then I’ll be over.  Say, six-ish?”

“That sounds great!”  Trixie said gratefully.  They said their good-byes and less than a minute later the phone rang again.

“What did you forget?”  Trixie’s voice was pert.  There was a long pause and suddenly Trixie realized that, despite the fact that she had been chained to it for four days, this wasn’t her phone and it might not be Brian.  “Hello?”

“I don’t know why you think you can hide from me, Trixie Belden.”  The line went dead and Trixie recoiled at the horrible, distorted voice on the other end.

“Calm down,” Trixie said out loud, trying to ignore the sudden surge of adrenaline she felt and the racing of her heart.  “You have to get a grip.  You are thinking of becoming an official agent of the United States Government.  You need to have a cool head.  Okay.  Remember Scream 2?  ‘Star-69 his ass!’”

Trixie hit Star-69 and received a stock “We’re sorry, that number is out of the service area,” from a polite, female voice.  Trixie swore and continued to talk to herself.  “Okay, it’s  four o’clock.  At four o’clock, Jim is babysitting Jeff.  Call Jim on his cell phone and see what ole’ Jeffy is up to.”  With shaking hands, Trixie dialed Jim’s cell phone number from memory.

Jim answered after the second ring.  “What is Jeff doing right now?”  Trixie tried to control her voice so as not to worry Jim, but she knew that merely asking that question would put Jim on alert.  She was right.

“He just went into your dad’s bank,” Jim said, sensing something was wrong.  His voice tightened.  “Why?”

“Is he near a phone?”

“No, I can see him plainly through the window of the bank.  He’s standing in line at the teller and he definitely has no cell phone.”

“Well, then we can rule Jeff out or he has an accomplice.”

“Trixie, what happened?”  Jim’s voice was anxious.

Trixie took a deep breath.  “He knows I’m here.”

“What?!”

“Someone just called and said ‘I don’t know why you think you can hide from me, Trixie Belden.’”  Trixie shivered just thinking of the voice, although she knew it was done electronically.  “Whoever it was used one of those voice distorters, you know, like in Scream?  And his number wasn’t available through Caller ID.”

“I’m coming up there right now,” Jim stated.

“No, you don’t have to do that.  Brian is on his way,” Trixie explained.

Jim swallowed, trying to nurse his wounded pride.  “Oh.  I didn’t realize you had called Brian first.”

Trixie recognized the hurt in Jim’s voice.  “No, I didn’t!”  She quickly reassured him.  “He called right before the stalker to tell me he wanted to take me out to dinner.”

“I still want to come up there,” Jim said

“No, Jim, I’ll be fine,” Trixie said gently, but firmly.

Jim sighed and decided not to push, as hard as it was for him.  “Okay, Trix,” he said reluctantly, “you win.”

A thought occurred to Trixie.  “Jim, there’s something I want to check out.  Can I call you later?”

“Sure,” Jim didn’t hide the puzzlement in his voice.  “Will you definitely call me later?”

Trixie promised she would and the two hung up.

Trixie called Crabapple Farm.  Bobby answered.  “Hi, Bobby.  Have you been near the phone?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Any unusual calls the last few minutes?”

“How did you know?”  Bobby asked.  Trixie’s pulse quickened.

“Just a hunch.  What was the call like?”

“Well, it wasn’t really that unusual.  Some guy called asking for you.  When I said you were out of town, he hung up.  What’s going on?”  Bobby demanded.

“Nothing, Bobby.  Thanks,” Trixie said hastily as she hung up.

Her next call was the Manor House.  Celia answered.

“Hi, Celia,” Trixie said cheerfully.  “Any calls for me?”

Celia sounded surprised.  “Why, yes, Trixie.  Someone did call a few minutes ago asking for you.  I told him that you weren’t here and he hung up without leaving his name.”

“Okay, Celia, thanks.”  Trixie again hung up abruptly.  She was starting to feel that her hunch was right.  She dialed Mart and Di’s number.  Mart grabbed the phone on the fourth ring.

“Hey, almost twin, any calls for me?”  Trixie again used a cheerful voice, but she knew that unlike Celia, Mart would probably see right through her.

“Yeah, a guy called a few minutes ago asking for you.  When I said he had the wrong number he hung up, what gives?”

“Nothing,” Trixie said and started to hang up.  Then she realized that she could get away with that with Bobby and Celia, but not with her almost-twin.  “I’ve got to go, Mart, but call Jim on his cell.  He can fill you in.”

She hung up and pondered.  This jerk had gotten lucky when she answered the phone.  He must have realized that she hadn’t been around Crabapple Farm lately and started calling everyone she knew, looking for her.  She was willing to bet that Jim and Brian had hang-ups on their answering machines, unless the stalker had struck gold before calling them.  Trixie swore again.  How could you be so stupid, answering the phone like that?  The young blonde berated herself.  You’re supposed to be hiding out and you give your identity and location away.  Great going, ‘Detective’ Belden!

Hallie walked in just then to see Trixie staring at the phone as though it might bite her.  “What’s up?” she drawled, traces of her  Idaho  accent lingering even after three years in  New York  .

Trixie looked up at her gorgeous cousin with the long black hair and eyelashes to die for.  No wonder Dan flipped for her, Trixie thought unconsciously.  Out loud she said, “Our stalker has found me.”

Hallie gasped.  “No!  How?”

Trixie smiled ruefully.  “Well, from what I can gather, that’s my fault.”  She recounted the stalker’s phone call, as well as the information she had gained from the phone calls she had made herself.

Hallie sat down next to her on the sofa.  “What next, cousin?”

Trixie sighed.  “Brian called to say he wants to take me to dinner.  I guess I’ll just go home with him tonight and stay there.”

Hallie shook her head.  “No, this guy will probably camp outside the building and follow you.”

“Do you think he could get here from Sleepyside that fast at rush hour?”  Trixie asked.

“Trix, most of your flowers were ordered in  New York,” Hallie reminded her cousin.  “What makes you think he’s not already here in the city?”

Trixie looked at Hallie.  “You’re right,” she said simply.  It probably wasn’t even safe to go have dinner with Brian now.  That realization infuriated Trixie.  She had been looking forward to having dinner with Brian, whom she barely saw anymore, and she would be damned if she let some…some…criminal stop her from enjoying time with her brother!

Suddenly she realized that Hallie was staring at her with an amused expression on her face.  “What?”  Trixie asked somewhat defensively.

Hallie laughed.  “You look downright ornery right now, Trix.  What is going on inside that head of yours?”

Trixie had to laugh in spite of herself.  “I was so looking forward to this dinner with Brian but now common sense is telling me that I shouldn’t go.  And that makes me mad!”  Trixie’s long sandy curls bounced as she shook her head for emphasis.  Just like when she was fourteen years old, Hallie thought.

“I don’t care.  I’m going!”  Trixie knew she probably sounded like a spoiled brat, but feeling like a caged tiger the last few days did nothing to improve her temper.

“Trixie, was this supposed to be a special dinner, just you and Brian?”  Hallie wanted to know.

“He didn’t say that, but I was kind of looking forward to spending time with him,” Trixie answered.

“What if Dan and I tagged along?  There’s safety in numbers.”

Trixie thought.  “I don’t have a problem with that as long as Brian and Dan don’t.”

Hallie grinned at that statement.  “Once Brian and Dan find out about that phone call, you know they’ll agree instantly.”

“Yeah, I’ll never understand why the men in my life never believe I can take care of myself,” Trixie stated.

“C’mon, Trix, they have come to your aid one or two times,” Hallie chided.

“I know, but do I have to admit that out loud?”  The two cousins shared a smile.

Hallie was right that both men would want to accompany Trixie out to dinner—after they realized that she was not going to be talked out of spending an evening outside of the apartment. Soon the four were seated at one of Brian’s favorite restaurants, chatting and trying to pretend that there was no danger in Trixie’s life.

“So tell me more about this FBI thing,” Brian requested after the waiter had poured three glasses of wine, brought Dan’s beer, and taken their orders.

“Well, Brian, right now there isn’t much to tell,” Trixie began.  “I really enjoyed my time last summer at  Quantico, and the idea of being an FBI agent is exciting, but my dream has always been to open up my own detective agency.  I’m still torn.”

“But you could get a lot of great experience with the FBI and still be able have your own agency later,” Dan pointed out.

Trixie nodded.  “I know, and that appeals to me, bringing a lot of government training and experience to the agency, but I’m still not sure that’s what I want.”

“You’ll be great no matter what you decide,” Hallie assured her cousin, “so don’t make any hasty decisions.”

Trixie smiled at Hallie gratefully.  “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Hal, it means a lot to me.”  Then she turned to Brian.  “So, how far along on plans for the wedding have you guys gotten?  I keep meaning to ask Honey, but every time I talk to her we ending up talking about her exam or my…” She broke off, unwilling to bring up that vile creature while she was enjoying an evening out with her friends and family.

Brian knew how she felt and jumped to answer her question about the wedding.  “Well, we have definitely decided to have it in Sleepyside.  Her parents were pushing for the wedding to be at St. Patrick’s Cathedral followed by a reception at the Four Seasons Hotel, but Honey decided to forego all of the pomp and circumstance.  Madeleine seemed a little disappointed, but of course she’ll agree to whatever Honey wants.  We’ll have both the ceremony and the reception in the Manor House gardens.”

“Have you set a date?”  Hallie wanted to know.

“Saturday, the 19^th of May at  four o’clock,” Brian said with a smile.

“Honey always did want a May wedding,” Trixie observed.  “Is Miss Trask helping with the arrangements?  Stupid question, of course she is.”  Trixie answered her own query.

“Miss Trask is an amazing woman,” Brian stated.  “She’s already found a baker that Honey loves, as well as a florist.  I think she’s waiting for...for…”  Brian stumbled and Trixie knew what he was going to say.

“Miss Trask is waiting for my life to settle down so all of us girls can go traipsing around looking for dresses.”

Brian sighed.  “Yes, Trix, but she’s got enough going on with other details for the wedding and running the estate so waiting a little bit isn’t really a big deal.”

“I know, Brian, but that’s not the point.  All of our lives are being affected by this creep, not just mine, and that burns me up!  Honey should be like any other bride, able to grab her friends and go ooh-ing and ah-ing over beautiful dresses.  She shouldn’t have to delay it because some psychopath is on the loose.”

“Trix,” Brian said gently, “Honey doesn’t feel that way, and neither should you.”

“Oh, I know, Brian.  I guess I’m just frustrated!”

“Of course you are,” Dan spoke up, “but we’re going to get this guy and make him sorry he ever went after you!”

Trixie smiled gratefully at Dan as the waiter arrived at the table with their food.  No one spoke for several minutes as they enjoyed the scrumptious food.

Trixie broke the silence.  “This sure beats kiwi fruit and egg rolls!”

“What?”  Brian was clearly confused.

“Apparently Dan and Hallie are too busy to go shopping much.  Just about the only things in their fridge are kiwi fruits and frozen egg rolls,” Trixie explained.

“An interesting combination,” Brian commented.

Dan spoke up.  “Until you’ve tried them with fried chicken, you have no idea what you’re missing!”

“I’ll take your word on it,” Brian said dryly.

During dinner, Trixie asked Dan questions about being a rookie on the NYPD.  He said that he liked his job but couldn’t wait to be eligible to move up to detective some day.

“Is it living up to your expectations, Dan? This is what you’ve always wanted, is it worth it?”  Trixie asked, thinking of her own situation.

The look in Dan’s eyes told Trixie everything she needed to know before he even spoke a word.  “Absolutely, Trixie.  This was one dream that did not disappoint in reality.  I worried along the way that maybe, even though this was all I ever wanted, when I finally made it, I would discover I didn’t like it.  But I do like it, Trix, I really do.”  Dan looked deep into Trixie’s eyes and Trixie knew that he was telling her, with those expressive black eyes, to follow her dreams.  He would never say it out loud, because he was Dan after all, the least likely of the boys to nag or lecture her.  But he wanted her to know how happy he had been following his dreams, and that he wanted that for her as well.  Trixie returned his gaze and gave him a smile to let him know that she had gotten the message.

Talk turned then to Brian’s career.  “Medicine is everything I ever thought it would be and more, especially this last year when I finally made it to my clinical rotations,” Brian said, an undercurrent of passion in his normally steady baritone voice.  Trixie heard that undercurrent every time he spoke about medicine, and she loved to hear it—Brian was a doctor to his very core, he always had been, and he always would be.  She couldn’t imagine him as anything else.  The only time he had ever doubted his career was back in high school when he was working with Loyola Kevins on their  Hudson River project—and that had been chemically induced and therefore didn’t count, Trixie thought.

Trixie thought about the change in Brian’s voice when he spoke of medicine, excitement edging into his normally steady way of talking.  She supposed that she got that way herself when she spoke of a mystery or the Belden-Wheeler Detective Agency.  So why was she considering a job at the Bureau?  Because it’s exciting and the training would be great, but it’s still not the Belden-Wheeler Detective Agency, Trixie agonized to herself.

Trixie focused again on the conversation, realizing that Brian was telling stories about some of the kids he had gotten to work with during his pediatric rotation.  It was interesting, and before anyone realized it, they had finished their dinner and were just waiting on the check.

“What next?”  Hallie wanted to know.

“How about a walk through Little Italy?  We can stop at a café and have one of those great Italian desserts and some cappuccino,” Trixie suggested.

Brian and Dan looked at each other.  “I have a real early call at the hospital tomorrow, Trix, I’m sorry.”

Dan agreed.  “And I have to be at the station early, too, Trix.  We’ll do it another time, okay?”

Trixie looked at both of them suspiciously.  She had seen the look that had passed between them and she knew that they were worried walking around New York  with her stalker on the loose.  She wondered if their excuses were convenient but genuine or if they had flat out invented them to avoid raising her ire by telling her that it was too dangerous to go to Little Italy.  Oh well, it doesn’t matter, Trixie thought, either way they are bent on protecting me, which isn’t a bad thing, but damn I hate having my freedom restricted!

Trixie decided to go along with their stories.  “Well, then we must get you two sleeping beauties off to bed,” she said lightly.  Hallie knew what was going on and winked at her.  Trixie swore she heard both men breathe sighs of relief.

Boy, memories of my teenage temper must still be pretty strong!  Trixie chuckled to herself.  She wondered how everyone was going to take it when she told them of her decision to go back to Crabapple Farm the next day.  This psycho now knew she was at Dan and Hallie’s and rather than keep running, she had decided to go back to Sleepyside.

When they got to the apartment, Dan insisted on checking it out before he would allow Trixie and Hallie in the front door.  After he deemed it all clear, Trixie and Hallie entered the cute little apartment, and Trixie announced she had phone calls to make.  She thanked Hallie and Dan for accompanying her and Brian out to dinner and headed for the guest room.

She called Di to let her know that she didn’t need to take Friday off from the museum, but Di still insisted on spending the day with her friend.  “I’ve hardly spent any time with you since you’ve gotten back from D.C. so we’ll find something to do, okay?  I’ll meet you at  9 am, Friday morning?”  Trixie agreed and the two girls hung up.

She called Jim, because she had promised she would.  He didn’t take the news about her return to Sleepyside very well and they got into an argument that ended with Trixie hanging up the phone.  She wasn’t proud of her action, but she had enough to worry about without trying to justify her actions to Jim.

She called Honey next, knowing she could count on her for support.

“Trixie!”  Honey said when she heard her friend’s voice.  “Jim told me about the call at Dan’s.  How do you think he found you?”

Trixie repeated her theory that he had probably called around and just got lucky.  Honey agreed with Trixie’s assessment upon hearing about the other calls to Manor House and to Mart and Di’s.

“So now that he knows I’m here, I think I’m just going to go back to Sleepyside.  Can you come get me tomorrow?”

“Are you sure that’s wise?  You could go to Brian’s you know.”

“I don’t want to keep running, Honey.  I tried that once and it took him just a couple of days to track me down.  True, I would be smarter about it this time, but I want to be back at Crabapple Farm,” Trixie stated.  Honey knew that her mind was made up and that Trixie would take the train into Sleepyside alone if she had to.

Honey sighed.  Why did Trixie have to be so stubborn all the time?  “Okay, Trix, you win.  I’ll be there around  noon.  Sound good?”

“Great, Honey!  I really appreciate this!”  Trixie said gratefully.

“I’ll help you out, but just for the record, I’m not sure coming back to Sleepyside is the best idea.”

“I know that’s how you feel, Honey, which makes me even more appreciative of you helping me!”

The two girls chatted a few minutes longer and then hung up.  Trixie immediately called Scott.

“Trixie!”  Scott said enthusiastically.  “It’s so good to hear your voice!”

“Scott, it’s only been a day since I talked to you last!”  Trixie said.

“I know, but that’s one day too long.  And it’s been way too long since I’ve seen you—almost a week now!”

Trixie smiled at the urgency in Scott’s voice.  How great it was to have a guy who missed her when she was away.  “We can fix that,” Trixie stated.

“When?  How’s your cousin by the way?”  Trixie had told Scott that her cousin was really sick and needed her help for a few days.  She was still unwilling to bring up the stalker to Scott.  She didn’t want to worry him, plus the only time she was able to just have a good time and forget about the stalker was when she was with Scott.  She knew if she told him about this maniac, that would change.

“She’s a lot better, so I’m coming back tomorrow,” Trixie informed her boyfriend.

“You owe me a date for canceling the last one.  Is tomorrow night good for you?”

“Tomorrow night is wonderful for me,” Trixie smiled.  “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too.  But by this time tomorrow we’ll be together.  How about I cook you dinner at my place?”

“That would be wonderful,” Trixie agreed.  She talked with Scott for almost an hour longer before she declared that she was tired and needed to get some sleep.

“Pleasant dreams, my sweet,” Scott said softly as they said good-bye.

“You too, Scott,” Trixie said as she hung up.  She lay on the bed and smiled contentedly.  Tomorrow I get to hold that gorgeous man and feel his fabulous kisses!  Soon, Trixie was drifting into sweet slumber.

Honey knocked on the apartment door promptly at  noon the next day.  Trixie opened the door with a huge grin for her friend but it faded fast when she saw what her friend held.

“No!”

Honey nodded grimly.  “Yes.”

Trixie sighed resignedly and took the bouquet of 7 red and 5 white roses from Honey’s hands and looked for the card.

“How’d you end up with these?”

“They were delivered about five minutes before I got here.  Charles remembered me of course,” Honey referred to the building’s daytime doorman, “so since he knew they were for my old apartment, he asked if I would mind delivering them to Miss Trixie Belden.  I said no problem even though I wanted to toss the things into the nearest trashcan.”

Trixie did just that as soon as she pulled the card out.  She looked at Honey.  “It’s typed.  He didn’t wire these from anywhere.”

You must learn your lesson
You can’t run and hide
The excitement builds
It soon will be time

“This guy is sick, Trixie.  The excitement builds?  This is some kind of game to him!”

“Of course it is.  He loves this cat and mouse junk, and the longer it goes on, the more excited he gets.  Well, before we head back I’d better make a few calls.”

Trixie made four short, but not very sweet, phone calls to Alex, Molinson, Jim, and Dan.  No one was happy that she was heading back to Crabapple Farm, but they all agreed that short of drastic measures, there weren’t many other options they were truly any better.

Trixie then took a deep breath and called her mother to let her know what was going on.  She hated to worry Moms with this, hated hearing the fear and exhaustion in Helen Belden’s voice, and hated the twisted maniac who was putting all of her family and friends through this.  She was more determined than ever to find this guy.  He would eventually make a mistake and when he did, Trixie and the rest of the Bob-Whites would get him.

Trixie told her mother when to expect her and left the apartment with Honey.  Honey had driven into the city, not wanting to take a chance on the train.  As soon as Helen Belden saw Honey’s car drive up the lane, she ran out to the car and hugged her only daughter tightly, tears openly running down her face.  Bobby and Reddy were also there for the reunion, adding a lot of confusion to the occasion, but nobody minded.

They all headed into the kitchen and Mrs. Belden made sandwiches for everyone.  Trixie asked a lot of questions about what had been going on at the Farm, trying to keep everyone’s mind off of unpleasant thoughts, but lunch was still a strained affair.  After lunch, Trixie and Honey headed up to Trixie’s room to go over the clues, frustratingly few that they were.

“Trixie, this person has been planning this for a long time.  He hasn’t made any mistakes.  Yet,” Honey added hastily at the look on Trixie’s face.  “I don’t think it’s anyone still behind bars.  It’s someone who’s been released.  That’s my gut feeling and that’s what the clues say.  He would want to do this himself.  He enjoys this too much to let someone else execute it while he sits behind bars.”

“I agree with you, Honey, but who?”  Trixie looked questioningly into Honey’s hazel eyes.  “Jeff Higgins is virtually cleared—he didn’t make that call and he didn’t send the most recent flowers.  Alex said that Tilney’s nephew definitely didn’t do either of those things.  That just leaves Burt Mitchell.  Everyone else is still behind bars, dead, or in another state.  I guess I’ll have to ask Alex if he can put a tail on Burt.”

“My gut says that it’s not Burt,” Honey stated.  “It’s someone we’ve overlooked.”

“Like who?”  Trixie asked.  “We’ve had the Sleepyside PD, the NYPD, and the FBI looking into everyone we’ve ever put away.”

Honey looked at Trixie thoughtfully.  “What does your gut say?”

Trixie looked at Honey sheepishly.  “That it’s someone we’ve overlooked.”

Honey nodded triumphantly.  “I knew you had to feel that way too.  There is some piece of the puzzle that we are missing.  That we haven't looked at, or we haven’t looked at in the right way.  Let’s go over everything again.”

So Honey got out more paper and they made a list of everything they knew so far.  They wrote down the details of the break-ins at Jim’s, the times and dates of the flower deliveries, the clues they had learned from Alice and the other florists, but try as they might to find something, nothing seemed obvious.

Trixie looked at the clock.  “Wow!  I’ve got to start getting ready for my date with Scott.”

“How are you getting there?”  Honey demanded.

“Driving, of course.”

“By yourself?”

“Yes,” Trixie stated.

“And if you get car-jacked on the way?”  Honey continued with her interrogation.

“Honey!  Right here in Sleepyside?  It’s only about two miles to Scott’s house!”  Trixie protested.

“I don’t care.  I would follow you, but then you’d just have to drive home by yourself.  I’m driving you,” Honey declared.  “That way Scott can give you a ride home and you’ll be safe.”

“And what explanation am I to give about my lack of a Jeep Wrangler?”

“The truth.  Surely he’s as worried about this stalker guy as we are!”  Honey said.  Trixie averted her eyes at Honey’s words.  “Trixie Belden!  You haven’t told him, have you?”

Trixie shook her head, still avoiding Honey’s eyes.

“Why not?  Do you realize that if Scott doesn’t know, then he’s not being particularly vigil when you two are out?  Do you have a death wish?”  Honey was clearly upset at her friend.

“No, Honey, I don’t have a death wish.  Please keep your voice down or Moms will worry more.  I didn’t tell him because I didn’t want him to get all weirded out.  I can relax when I’m with Scott because he doesn’t know about this guy.”

“Trixie!”  Honey said in an exasperated tone.  “One—he has a right to know, especially now that he’s your boyfriend. And two—him not knowing is dangerous!  Will you tell him tonight?  Please?”  Honey pleaded.

Trixie sighed.  “I’ll think about it, but I make no promises.”

“Well, if that’s the best I can get from you, I guess I have to go along with it, but I am putting my foot down.  Either I drive you or I get your dad or your brother or Jim or a combination of the three to drive you!”  Honey knew that threatening to go to one of the male members of Trixie’s life would do the trick.

“Okay, but you have to drop me off a few doors down.  I’ll pretend I decided to walk because it’s such a nice night.  I don’t want him to know I have to be babysat.  I’ll make sure he brings me home safe and sound,” Trixie gave into Honey’s demand.

An hour later, Trixie was getting out of Honey’s Saturn three doors down from Scott’s house.  “Thanks for the ride, Honey.  Di and I are spending the day together tomorrow, but I’ll take to you tomorrow evening, okay?”

Honey nodded and gave her a wicked grin.  “Have fun tonight!”

Trixie matched her smile.  “Oh, I will, believe me!”  She shut door and headed toward Scott’s house.  Honey made sure she was inside safely before turning around and heading back to Manor House.

Meanwhile, Scott was showing Trixie just how much he missed her.  Trixie let his strong arms encircle her in a warm embrace and felt her worries slipping away.  Scott led her into the living room.

“Have a seat.  Dinner’s almost ready, do you want some wine?”

“Sure.  Dinner smells wonderful by the way,” Trixie sniffed the air appreciatively.

“Wait ‘til you taste it!”  Scott called from the kitchen as he poured himself and Trixie some wine.  He brought the two glasses in and sat next to her on the sofa.

“A toast, to wayward girls who finally return to their boyfriends,” Scott said mischievously as he took a drink.  Trixie laughed and took a drink as well.

“To understanding boyfriends who are never impatient waiting for their girls to return!”  Trixie shot back, raising her glass and taking another drink.

Scott laughed.  “Touché!”

A few minutes later Trixie looked at Scott.  “Wow.  It must have been more exhausting than I realized taking care of my cousin.  I’m really tired all of a sudden.”

“That’s okay, you just relax here on the sofa while I check on dinner,” Scott said as he settled Trixie into a more comfortable position.  She was having a hard time keeping her eyelids open.

“Scott, my eyes, they’re so heavy,” Trixie mumbled.

“It’s okay, just rest,” Scott said tenderly.

Soon Trixie was oblivious to the world.  Scott stood up and picked up the phone.

“It’s me.  Yeah, I gave it to her in her wine and she’s out like a light.  Come on over so we can put the rest of our plan into action.”

More notes: For those of you who didn’t read my ten-year-old scribbling, also known as The Disappearing Guest, the main character’s family eats a lot of weird foods.  One such combination was kiwi fruit, fried chicken, and egg rolls.  I couldn’t resist throwing it in here!

Trixie Belden® is a registered trademark of Random House Books. These pages are not affiliated with Random House Books in any way. These pages are not for profit. Image courtesy of Ian Britton, FreeFoto.com.

Story copyright © GSDana