It didn’t take long for the sheriff to clear the retail space and Jake’s workshop and call them all inside. Beryl tried her best to stay out of the way as Frederick and Jake looked around to see if anything was missing, especially any of the high-dollar items, but nothing looked out of place.
Jake inspected his workshop, carefully checking each project, then shrugged. “I don’t think anything’s missing. Do you, Frederick?”
His manager shook his head, his expression mystified. It was crazy.
With no other recourse, they reset the alarms and locked everything up. Sheriff Hollister said he’d write a report about a false alarm. “If you do find something gone in the next few days, just let me know and I’ll amend the report.”
Sheriff Hollister and Frederick said their goodbyes and Jake walked Beryl to her car.
Beryl made sure no one was looking when she kissed Jake goodnight before she let him leave.
By the third kiss, she didn’t care who saw them.
Darkfall figured he must be slipping. He almost got caught at Dark Matter Metal & Leather.
Darkfall heard a siren approaching as he worked. Confident in his own skills, he figured the responder was heading out on a call or chasing down a speeder.
Nope. Local law enforcement was headed for the shop. Space potatoes!
He must have tripped some silent alarm that alerted the police. He’d hurried to finish his chore and slipped out the back door, closing it quietly and relocking it just as the local sheriff came in through the front door.
That had been close.
Darkfall concealed himself and watched as the sheriff searched the building, then Jake, Beryl and Frederick went in. Once they were all out of sight, he didn’t race away from the scene after nearly being caught red-handed. He did his best to look like a guy walking along, minding his own business, not breaking, not entering and not taking valuable mission notes from a secret stash in the workshop.
He thought for sure he’d bypassed the alarm system—he hadn’t wanted anyone at the shop to realize there’d been a break-in—but Darkfall was the first to admit he was not as proficient with Earther security systems as others were.
Obviously, he needed more practice.
Luca had always been much better with electronic security systems, no matter what planet they were on. Luca had a gift. Well, he used to. Perhaps Luca had wired the shop’s system before he lost his memory. Yes. That made the most sense.
Darkfall hoped he could figure out how to help Luca get his memory back. He’d hate to lose his best friend to a clouded mind. It was possible that Command would decide to leave Luca to live out his life on Earth. It was more likely he’d have to go back to Alpha-Prime and retrain.
Darkfall didn’t want it to come down to the dire scenario where Darkfall the Corrector and Darkfall, secret agent for the Alpha-Prime Command Secret Service, might have to whisk Ironveil back to their home planet for a debrief and compulsory retraining, whether his friend wanted to go or not.
But Darkfall had many other obstacles to surmount before that might happen. He checked his timepiece, noting that he had three days before his mandatory check-in with Goddard.
Darkfall headed back to his motel, The Event Horizon Inn, and started translating the code from Luca’s mission notebook. He only had a few days to get it done and retrace the steps of Luca’s six-month mission in Alienn, Arkansas.
Then he’d have to make his report to Goddard and The Calderian. After that, a discussion would be had regarding Luca, the mission and what to do next.
Darkfall hoped he could solve the mystery of Luca’s memory loss using the other agent’s notes in the time he had. He spent a couple of hours staring at the last entry his friend had made involving surveillance of a possible suspect. It would have made Darkfall’s life easier if Luca had named the man. Regardless, he continued working backwards through Luca’s notebook, looking for more clues.
Chapter Eighteen
After the break-in at his store, Jake had been on edge all week. First his house; now his place of business. Would it happen again?
Would the mysterious being who had hired others to snatch him off the street come back? Hire different—possibly more competent—kidnappers?
Despite his worries, there was one bright spot: Beryl. He was falling more in love with her each and every minute that they spent together. Even though he knew she didn’t want to ever get married, and he could totally understand why, it didn’t stop his heart from tightening with joy every time he saw her.
While out for dinner the night after the break-in at the shop, Jake and Beryl kept up a running joke all evening with predictions regarding what would happen to interrupt their latest date.
He’d almost been kidnapped after their picnic lunch.
Their first dinner date turned into a family extravaganza with all of Beryl’s siblings.
