The school bus was unusually quiet for the trip home but being a Friday, Susan Hudson wasn't complaining. As she watched, teenagers were gathering around in small groups for what she assumed were their plans for some of the upcoming Halloween parties.

The Robinson party was the famous of them all, only those who had been sent invitations were allowed into the Robinson party. Both Jaclyn and Richard Robinson delighted in playing God when it came to handing out their engraved invitations.

While some of the kids wished to be invited, Susan had no desire to go. Why waste a good night listening to how great and rich the Robinsons' were when she could have a great and fun night out with her friends.

Sitting in one of the seats mid way in the bus, Susan twisted her finger in her hair as she caught a glimpse of her best friend, Carolyn Blaisdell. Her friend hadn't spoken a word since they had boarded the bus. Instead, she was either staring out the window as the bus came to a stop or looking at the invitation she had gotten from their arch rival, Jaclyn Robinson.

"Are you going to the Halloween party, Carolyn?" Susan asked, hoping to find out why her friend had gotten invited. She looked closer at the card and noticed for the first time it was damp. She wondered what had happened to cause that to happen.

At fourteen, she and Carolyn had been best friends since the second grade, sharing clothes and girlish secrets. It wasn't like Carolyn to keep a secret from her. "Can I at least see the card?"

"It's kinda damp." Carolyn said and then started giggling. It took a few minutes before her friend could get herself under control enough to finish explaining. Carolyn smiled a sly grin and continued. "Jaclyn handed me the card and said that it was her good deed of the day. She had the gall to stand there waiting for my reaction."

"Well, don't keep me in suspense. Tell me what happened." Susan was almost on the edge of her seat waiting for an answer.

"It wasn't my fault she opened her mouth the same time her head was being dunked in the toilet."

Both girls started laughing maliciously as did the three girls sitting behind them. Susan knew that Carolyn's little fights with Jaclyn always spread through the eighth grade faster than tickets to a Duran Duran concert.

Since she and Carolyn didn't have the same schedule for their afternoon classes, she kept missing out on the after lunch gossip. Susan had to rely on Carolyn to fill her in on the juicy details on the daily ride home from school. It was on these occasions where Carolyn was the topic of conversation that Susan felt especially cheated. She always had to rely on second hand information to keep her updated. Carolyn could be so prudish at times.

"The only reason Jaclyn and Richard Robinson get away with everything is because they're one of the wealthiest families in the city." One of the girls sitting in the seat behind them spoke up the second the laughter died down, causing Susan to turned around to see who was talking. The girl continued, "Both are nothing but spoiled brats."

"Well, Duh!" The girl sitting in the middle sat up closer so she could lean over the seat that Susan and Carolyn were occupying. "Did you know Richard drove that expensive sports car of his into my mother's garden and laughed about it. He did it because my mom's tulips were giving his mom's flowers a run for her money. If you ask me, I think Richard's mom told him to do it."

Susan had heard part of this story before but nobody seemed to know the ending. Now that she had someone who had witnessed the incident, she wasn't about to let the opportunity pass her by. "I heard your mother called the police. What happened?"

"Mr. Robinson offered to pay for the damages but only at half the price. He claimed Mom's flowers were dying anyway. Mom was so mad, she threatened to shove a tulip up his nose." The girl laughed as she told the story.

"What happened next?" The girl on the aisle asked.

"A policemen showed up and Mr. Robinson started yelling at him."

"He yelled at a cop!" the same girl replied in a loud voice. "Did he get arrested? What happened?"

"Captain Blaisdell was driving by and saw the police car and stopped to see what was going on. When Mr. Robinson told him to mind his own business, he and Mr. Robinson got into it big time. He threaten to put Mr. High and Mighty in the back seat of a police cruiser if he didn't shut up." The girl explained, as Susan noticed they were attracting a crowd of eavesdroppers. "Mom said 'you should have seen the look on Mr. Robinson's face.' "

Carolyn started laughing, making Susan turn around. "Well, it's no secret my family and the Robinson's don't get alone. I hate Jaclyn and Peter hates Richard. Dad doesn't care for Mr. Robinson. He calls him a name I can't repeat."

Annie Blaisdell finished slicing the vegetables and tossed them into a pot to boil for the beef stew she was preparing for dinner. Tracing a finger over the open face of her watch, she called to her youngest daughter. "Kelly, your television show ended ten minutes ago. I want your bedroom cleaned, now."

Eleven-year old Kelly Blaisdell entered the kitchen munching on an apple. "Mom, the Thundercats are coming on." Annie could detect the begging routine her youngest daughter had mastered. " Can I watch it first and then I promise I'll clean my room?"

Annie wiped her hands on her apron, "Didn't you make that same promise when He-Man and She-Ra was on?"

"Well, yeah, but..."

"No buts, upstairs now." Annie ordered as she pulled the apple pie out of the oven and placed it on top of the stove. Sticking a fork into the pie, she knew the dessert was done because the apples were soft. Hearing no sound, she knew her daughter hadn't moved. "Kelly, if I have to tell you one more time then you're not going trick-or-treating tomorrow night. Do I make myself clear?"

"I'm going," the girl grumbled under her breath. "I don't know why I have to clean my room, it'll only get messed up later."

"If you don't do as I tell you then you'll find yourself in hot water." Annie warned her daughter. Hearing the girl's footsteps going up the stairs, she shook her head in awe. It seemed like her children never gave her trouble until their father was away for a few days.

Hearing the school bus stopping in front of the house, Annie quickly made her way out of the kitchen. She was in the hallway when the door opened.

The smell of Carolyn's perfume told her where the girl was and catching a whiff of another scent, she realized Carolyn wasn't alone. She smiled, recognizing the second girl's cologne "Susan, I talked with your mother about an hour ago. You're welcome to stay for dinner if you like. With it being Halloween weekend, I knew you two would be making plans. "

"Wow, Mrs. B, you're good," Susan's remarked.

"Susan, flattery won't get you anywhere, young lady." Annie said. A slight noise from the top of the stairs caught her attention. It was just a small creak , but it was also her famous alarm system. Her little secret that always told her when one of her children was sneaking around doing something they weren't suppose to. It always astonished them that she could detect them before they had time to get away with whatever they were attempting to do. She lifted her head and voice, knowing who it was eavesdropping on their conversation. "Kelly!"

"I'm going. I'm going," a small voice sounded from upstairs.

Satisfied after hearing the angry stomps heading back towards the bedrooms, the blind woman turned and started walking down the hallway. "I've got to finish dinner. Would you two help Kelly decide which of her stuffed animals are going into the closet? I think she's collecting the entire Care Bears collection."

"We will, Mrs. B." Susan volunteered before the two girls climbed the stairs leaving her along with her thoughts.

Annie shook her head at the nickname her children's friends were now calling her. The television show 'Happy Days' was a favorite with the neighborhood kids and they seemed to think of her and Paul as the neighborhood Cunningham's.

Annie didn't mind the cute nickname but her husband, on the other hand, hated it. He blamed it on Peter's best friend, Reggie Stevenson, who had started calling Paul, Mr. B. She suspected the teenage friend of Peter's did it knowing full well that it irritated her husband. Paul was convinced that Reggie was the Second Coming of Eddie Haskell. There had been many days where Annie had to stop Paul from throwing Reggie out of the house because of some foolish stunt or joke the teenager was trying to pull.

Upstairs in the bedroom she shared with her younger sister, Carolyn and Susan sat on her bed listening to the latest album by Journey. Kelly had disappeared before the two teenage girls got into the bedroom and Carolyn had suspected that the little girl was in their parents bedroom watching cartoons.

Susan picked up one of Kelly's stuffed collection of Care Bears and squeezed it. "What do you want to do?"

The sound of a large truck pulling into the yard stopped any plan Carolyn might have suggested. Both girls ran to the window to investigate and then hurried downstairs to tell Annie.

"Mom, it's a tow truck and they're pulling Peter's car into the yard," Carolyn began, giving her mother a play-by-play of the scene. "The driver has lowered the car and now he's pushing it off to the side of the house." When Carolyn described the driver, Annie knew it was a family friend, Mr. Murphy. She was about to send her daughter upstairs when Carolyn squealed, "Whoa, Peter looks pissed."

"Run upstairs and get some money out of my drawer." Annie said as she joined the two girls at the door. "I'd doubt your brother has any money for the towing." As Carolyn did as ordered, Annie could only imagine what kind of a weekend she was about to endure. She was thankful rain hadn't been forecast for the next few days.

Watching as the tow driver pull out of the front yard, Carolyn glanced over at Reggie Stevenson, who was standing by a tree watching her brother. She knew his sneaky mind was thinking of something devious. When Reggie was quiet, he was at his worse.

As she and Susan got closer to the boys, she could hear her brother cursing and Reggie looking amused. Leave it to Stevenson to find something funny about someone else's misfortune. It wouldn't surprise her in the least bit if Reggie proved to be the one who stole the Mayor's parking sign last week.

Reggie cleared his throat when he saw the girls approaching. "Hey Caine, shut your yap, toddlers approaching at two o'clock."

"At least we act our age and not our shoe size," Carolyn gave the older boy a smug face. He belonged in the circus with the rest of the clowns. Someone needed to put the 'Airhead' in his place and she was determined to do just that. "Unlike someone else who shall remain anonymous but most likely have to spend another year in the eleventh grade."

"Hey Blondie," Reggie strolled over behind Carolyn and started mocking her by swaying his hips as he walked behind her.

She thought about turning around quickly and 'accidentally' lifting her knee at just the right time but thought better of it. He wasn't worth getting into trouble over. She tried putting her hands over her ears to drown him out but he didn't take the hint as he continued with his usual garbage.

"It's not my fault the teachers like me so much they may ask me to stay. I could have graduated when I was ten years old if I'd wanted to."

"And Mr. T hates jewelry." Carolyn snapped, not giving the older boy time for a snappy comeback. She walked around the side of the car to speak with her brother. "What happened to your car, Peter? I thought you and dad fixed it before he left."

"What happened was somebody put sugar in the gas tank." Peter slammed the hood down hard and angrily kicked the side of the car with his foot.

Carolyn watched as he wince from the pain, but he didn't make a sound, even though it had to hurt. He limped away from the car and she fell into step with him, "When I get my hands on Robinson, I'm going to make him wish he had never been born."

"You can't." Carolyn reminded him of his promise he made to their father about fighting with Richard and the repercussions of what would happen if he didn't. "You know what Dad told you."

"It's not fair." Peter protested as he walked back to the car and just stared at the 79 red Camaro. Their father had bought the car for him on his sixteenth birthday. They had spent many weekends working into the late hours restoring the car into perfect condition. Next to the train set Peter shared with their father, Carolyn was sure the Camaro was her brother's prized possession.

Carolyn knew Peter felt cheated because of the promise her brother had been force to make to their father. "I know it doesn't help but you know Richard won't be punished for sabotaging your car. Old man Robinson thinks his kids hang the moon."

"He's going to pay some way for what he did. I can't touch him but....."

"Now you're thinking, Captain Caine." Reggie interrupted Peter's threat by laughing that stupid laugh of his that made Carolyn want to barf. She sighed disgustedly as Reggie slapped Peter across the shoulders and then dropped to his knees and started worshipping her brother as if he were the King of Egypt. "I was wondering if the pod people had stolen your body and replaced it with a clone. I say we go over to Robinson's house, tomorrow night and roll his yard. His mother will freak out when she finds toilet paper in her prized flower beds. It's Halloween night and the cops would think it's just some prank and let it slide."

Carolyn rolled her eyes. Her brother's friend had the same IQ as Astroturf, neither one contained living organisms. She couldn't contain her silence any longer. "Oh how original. How long did it take for you to think that one up?"

Peter turned around and glared at her. "Leave us alone, Carolyn. We got something to talk about...privately." Her brother warned before the two teenage boys started towards the house whispering and laughing.

Carolyn watched the two boys enter the house, placing her hands on her hips she glared at their retreating backs. "They're going about this the wrong way. Leave it to a woman to bail out her brother and his dorky friend."

Annie heard the boys coming down the hallway and knew they were heading in her direction. Hearing Reggie's annoying laughter, she almost cringed when he entered the kitchen and spoke his usual line of bull.

"You're looking very nice today, Mrs. B."

"Thank you, Reggie." She answered almost in a robot trance-like voice. Being a year older than her son, Annie at first had thought the high school junior was a bad influence on Peter but she and Paul discovered quickly that it was their son who was the so-called leader of the two boys. Reggie seemed to enjoy their son's company and as much as Paul despised Reggie's sugar coating attitude, they endured him for Peter's sake. "If you two are hungry there's two pumpkin pies cooling off on the counter, just make sure you only cut one because the other one is for Kelly's party tomorrow night at the Johnsons'."

Peter kissed the top of his mother's head before going to the refrigerator. "Thanks Mom. Can we go upstairs with it? Reggie and I have plans for tonight."

"I don't care but remember your father said your curfew's still ten o'clock." Annie reminded him, preparing herself for the protest that was about to come from her son.

"But tomorrow's Saturday and Halloween. There's a big party planned �.."

"I didn't hear Paul make an exception because it was Halloween, Peter." Annie interrupted, pulling the lid off the crock pot before dipping a ladle inside to stir the stew. "If you hadn't been caught drag racing last Saturday night then you wouldn't be grounded now would you?"

"Drag racing? I'm shocked at you, Caine." Annie heard Reggie's shocked response as if it was the first time he was hearing about her son's behavior.

He walked over to the blind woman and placed an arm around her shoulders, leaning over he sniffed the stew. "Mrs. B. I hope Peter's antics doesn't cause you and Mr. B to reflect badly on me. I would have steered him away from that dangerous activity if I had been there."

"If you had....of all the..." Annie slammed the ladle against the crock pot before pulling it out and waving it in the boy's direction. "Reggie Stevenson if they ever come up with an invention to bottle your hot air to use for fuel, we would never have to depend on OPEC again for oil. You would supply our reserves for generations to come."

"Get 'm, Mom." She heard Peter laugh.

"I can't believe you would laugh at my wounded pride, Caine." His footsteps were heavy as she heard him return to the table and yank out a chair. It took all her control to keep from finding the broom and hitting him over the head with it when she heard the sound of his boot hitting the seat of the chair. She was about to tell him to either sit down or stop leaning on one of her chairs, when Reggie added, "And here I am baring witness to your transgressions. At least you can offer me something to eat."

"You know where everything is." Peter managed to say between bites, chewing his food.

"I'll just take yours." Annie heard the plate sliding across the table and the sound of silverware clanging. Within seconds, her son was yelling at the top of his lungs.

"HEY!!!! GET YOUR OWN!"

Reggie moved closer to her. She guessed it was for protection from her son. He placed his head on her shoulder and asked simply. "Mrs. B., you got any vanilla ice cream?"

"If you want to fight Kelly over it, go ahead and help yourself."

"I'm not afraid of that little squirt." Reggie announced pulling open the freezer door, sliding things around.

"I'm warning you," Annie said softly.

The freezer door slammed shut. Reggie announced, "I'm not that hungry anyway."

"I thought so." Annie replied with a slight laugh. The last time Reggie had gotten into Kelly's ice cream, the boy had to deal with a very angry child who gotten her revenge by dumping salt in his iced tea.

"If Paul calls, will you ask him if I could stay out late tonight, Mom?" Her son asked as he grabbed another plate from the cabinet.

"No." She answered, simply. It was an unwritten rule between her and her husband that they would never undermined the other when it came to the discipline of their children. "You have your father's number by the phone right behind you. If you want his permission then you're going to call him and ask him yourself."

Hearing her son drop down into a chair, Annie had to keep from smiling. Paul had made it perfectly clear that he wasn't going to change his mind. If provoked, her husband would add another week to his decision. "I guess next time you'll remember your father is a Police Captain in this city and that many officers know you are his son. It could have been worse."

"I don't see how." Peter answered, dishearten. "It wasn't a picnic having Detective Strenlich hauling me home in his car. Talk about embarrassing."

"Would you have preferred to have us come to the precinct and pick you up with the other teenagers who got caught?" Annie asked, as she pulled out a chair beside him and sat down. She placed the ladle on the table and took his hand. "I think Frank went out of his way to keep your involvement quiet."

"Quiet? Ha!" Peter laughed, amusement played in his voice. "They monitored Paul's voice when he was yelling at me over at the College science department. They said he registered a 9.0 on the Richter scale."

"And that was on one of his quiet days," Reggie piped in. "Mr. B. yelled at me so loud one day the tornado sirens went off."

"Upstairs, both of you before I forget I'm a lady and beat you two with this ladle." Annie grabbed the utensil and shook it in their direction. She laughed as the two quickly ran out, listening as their footsteps rushed up the stairs to her son's bedroom. The door was closed instantly and then she heard Carolyn and Susan's lighter footsteps as they went upstairs, most likely to spy on the boys.

Kelly had gone back upstairs earlier and was either watching television or eavesdropping on her brother or sister. With four teenagers in her house at one time, Annie wondered what she had done in a past life to deserve this punishment.

Reggie eyed the target hanging on the closet door and took some practice aims with the dart in his hand. Satisfied that he had the bulls eye perfectly targeted in his sight, he threw it.

The dart missed the target entirely, nicking the wall instead falling harmlessly to the carpeted floor. Reggie flinched feeling nauseous as he stared at the small hole. Captain Blaisdell would see the hole and use him as putty to fill it. He was on the verge of running for his life when it suddenly dawned on him that his would-be-tormentor wasn't anywhere around. He mentally thanked anyone who could read his mind for the small miracle of Captain Blaisdell being away from home.

With his execution delayed, Reggie looked around the bedroom trying to find something to entertain himself since his so-called host was busy ignoring him. His vision eyed the bed and his lips curled upward as acting the fool became his number one goal. Fighting the urge to jump on the double bed proved fruitless as the thrill of bouncing up and down on the mattress won out.

Diving on his back, he stared up at the ceiling as the mattress jerked and shook under him as it adjusted to the addition of his body weight. As he watched the blades turning on the ceiling fan, Reggie was trying to think of a plan to get his friend out of the bad mood the younger boy had acquired since discovering the sabotage to his car in the school's parking lot. The only solution Reggie saw for the attack was revenge. He knew from Peter's body language and past experience, his friend was plotting something devious in the back of that thing he called a mind.

Hearing something striking a metallic object, he lifted his head off the pillow to investigate what his friend was doing.

The trash basket was turned over onto its side and several balled up pieces of paper were being shot inside it making the sound of a drum stick striking a bass drum.

Peter gripped his hockey stick and angrily swiped it at the wadded up balls of paper at his feet sending it into the trash can five feet away.

Seeing enough, Reggie sat up on the bed. "Hey, Wayne Gretzky. You think you can separate yourself from your big toothpick long enough to talk to me?"

Reggie raised his arms in a matter of self protection as Peter raised the stick looking as if to throw it. A light knock on the door made Peter lower the hockey stick and shout at the door. "Who is it?"

"Me." Carolyn answered. "Can I come in?"

Peter opened the door to allow his sister inside, looking down the hallway and finding Carolyn alone, he asked. "Where's your shadow?"

"She went home about an hour ago." Carolyn said, before closing the door behind her. "Have you come up with an idea to get back at Richard? I want to help, if you let me."

"Who said we need your help?" Reggie laughed, punching the pillow several times before he put his hand behind his head, lying back. Seeing Carolyn glaring at him, he couldn't help but add the word 'brat' just to get a reaction out of her. He loved pulling the girl's chain. Why, he didn't know but he did love needling Carolyn. "I'd consider asking Pee Wee Herman before I would ask you for advice."

Carolyn shot the older boy the dirtiest look Reggie had ever seen her mustered. He tried hard not to laugh as she yelled at him. "Why don't you go outside and graze in the back yard, Mr. Ed."

"One day you are going to learn you can't best her, Reg." Peter commented as he pulled out the chair that was in front of his desk. When his friend patted the seat twice, motioning for his sister to sit down, Reggie sat up. Why did Peter need his sister when he was here. "I need your help if I'm going to sneak out of the house tonight."

His eyes widened in disbelief as he heard Carolyn reply. "Just tell me what to do."

"What? You can't be serious!" Reggie rolled off the bed and nearly tripped over his own shoes, that he had left by the bed as he got to his feet. "We don't need her."

He tried to convince his friend but when Carolyn flashed him a grin that would grown grass twenty feet high in the Arizona dessert, he decided to save what was left of his dignity by pretending he was the brains behind this new scheme.

He walked over to the door and held his hand out as he pressed his ear against the door. "Be quiet!" he whispered as he tried to hear if anyone was standing outside the hallway. "It's clear." He announced proudly before joining the two siblings. "I didn't want you two children getting in trouble."

"Well, duh," Carolyn mocked, snapping her fingers in front of his face. "Hello! Is anyone in there? Peter just looked. Get with it." She turned her attention back to Peter. "What's your plan big brother?"

"Richard loves that car of his just a little too much. It would be horrible if something were to happen to it, wouldn't it?" Peter chuckled as he walked across the carpeted floor to his closet. The boy was learning from the Master, the Great One, himself. Reggie thought to himself. He had to bottle his gift and sell it to the unprivileged. Who was he to deprive the world of his talent? He glanced up just in time to hear Peter talking to him. "Reggie drag that chair over here so I can see what's up here."

Just his luck that Carolyn would get out of the chair before he had time to enjoy tossing her out of it. Not that he would have, but the fun he could have just to hear her scream. The only down side of that plan would be Peter, who would have knocked him into the side of the wall for even pretending to threaten his sister. He was too protective of his sisters for his own good. It was on his visits to the Blaisdell home that he was thankful he was an only child. One couldn't improve on perfection. When they made him, they broke the mode.

Reggie was surprised at how much the chair weighed when he grabbed it and turned the back towards him. Looking up, he noticed Carolyn smiling at him with a gleam in her eye, arms crossed over her chest. His eyes followed her as she walked to the closet to stand next to her brother. Well, she wasn't getting a laugh at his expense. He lifted his head and carried the oak chair across the room.

Peter turned around just as he lowered the chair and shot the younger boy with the most pleading look he could give without saying the chair was breaking his back. It must have worked because Peter started walking in his direction.

Peter helped lift the chair and between the two of them, they carried it to the closet door. "Put it down here, Reggie before you turn another shade of purple."

His ego bruised, Reggie answered with the only thought that came to mind. "Aw, sit on it, Caine."

"That's not why I wanted it." Peter climbed up in the chair and looked at the shelf which was now on the same eye level as he was. Reggie watched in amusement as his friend shoved his hidden playboy magazines back behind a baseball glove.

Some hiding place! That would be one of the first places his mother would go snooping the second he was out of the house, but then again his mother wasn't blind like Mrs. Blaisdell. He doubted she would know what she had discovered. The more he thought about it the more he was sure Annie would know exactly what her son had stored in his closet. Nothing escaped that woman. She had to have radar installed somewhere on her body because she knew everything he did before he had time to finish doing it.

"Here it is." Peter announced as Reggie came out of his reverie. He looked up to see Peter pulling and dragging a box until it reached the edge of the closest shelf. He shoved the hockey mask back that had been pulled along because the strap was caught underneath the box. Grabbing the box, Peter twisted and carefully handed it down to Reggie.

Carolyn held the chair steady for her brother as he jumped down. "What's in the box?" She asked, as Reggie looked over his shoulder to see her following behind him as he carried the box to the bed.

Reggie held the box out for her to take but the second she made contact with the cardboard, he snatched it out of her reach. "You want to know? You gotta get it to find out."

Carolyn grabbed the box and started pulling as he pulled back.

"Cut it out, both of you." Peter angrily grabbed the box out of Reggie's hands and carried it to his desk. If he wanted to know what was in the box, he would have to go to the desk. Reggie approached the desk not surprised when Carolyn tried to elbow him in the ribs before rushing to the other side of the desk to get out of his way.

As Peter opened the box, Reggie could see three spray cans with orange caps inside the cardboard container. Wondering what his friend had in mind, he watched as Peter pulled out one of the cans, revealing it to be orange spray paint. He tossed it to Reggie, who starting shaking the can to hear the familiar rattling that all spray cans have. Satisfied that there was paint still inside, he stood shaking the can as Peter explained where he had gotten them. "I got these out of the garage when Paul was painting those planters for Mom. He never missed them."

Carolyn's eyes widened. "What are you going to do?"

Reggie shook the can several times before tossing it back to Peter. "Wish I could help you Captain Caine, but I've got to work late at Pizza Hut tonight. It being a Friday night so we're going to be busy."

"I thought you got fired." Carolyn said, looking at him.

"That was Dominos."

"And McDonalds and Burger King," Peter added as he placed the can back inside the box and returned it to the top shelf inside the closet and then closed the door. He started dragging the chair back to the desk where it belonged, taking his time. "Reggie got fired from both those restaurants because he kept telling the customers they were eating horse meat."

"It was just a harmless joke. Management had no sense of humor."

"I suppose you imitating a horse every time someone bit into a burger was a harmless joke?"

"It was funny! It wasn't my fault that woman gagged when I told her she was eating the Lone Ranger's horse." Reggie stated, sitting on the bed watching the two siblings laughing at him. Tired of being humiliated, he switched the conversation back to Peter's plan and wanting to know it. "Forget my past work history. Are you going to tell us what you are going to do with those cans of paint?"

"It's going to look good on Richard's yellow Corvette."

"Oh now that's just plain evil." Reggie said in disbelief. This plan was a touch of genius. It would go down in history as the biggest prank of all time. Regret and a tinge of jealousy played across his features. "I wished I had thought of it first."

"It might be a good plan but there's still the problem of getting out of the house without Mom knowing it."

"Leave that part to me," Carolyn stated, standing up and walking to the window. She snapped her fingers, whirling around. "I've got it! Remember those fire escape chain ladders Dad keeps inside the hall closet? I'll go get one and you can use it to climb out of your window tonight after everyone has gone to bed."

"Good idea, but how do I get back inside the house?" Peter paced the length of the bedroom while running his hand through his hair. "You know Mom always sets the alarm before she goes to bed."

"Well, big brother, I can easily deactivate the alarm system when you get back home. We all know the code. Dad made us repeat it enough times during his long 'while I'm away I want this alarm on, especially at night' speeches." Caroline tried her best to imitate Blaisdell's voice, making her brother laugh. Reggie had to admit she was funny as he too joined in.

As the laughter died down, Reggie turned his head and looked at the girl. An idea came into play and he snapped his fingers getting her attention. "You know something Blondie, if you practice real hard, you might be able to imitate my mother's voice. And if that happens, I've got my ticket for playing hooky."

Rolling her eyes, Carolyn sighed heavily. "I just need some signal from you to let me know you are home."

"Hum......." Peter started to pace the room again. Reggie was about to offer a suggestion when Peter stopped in mid stride and snapped his fingers, "I've got it!"

"I hope they find a cure for it." Reggie chuckled as he watched Peter yank open the top drawer of his desk to pull out a flashlight.

"Carolyn, I'll toss a few little rocks at your window. When you hear them, turn the flash light on and off several times, that way I'll know you have seen me. Then come in here and open the window and lower the ladder so I can get back inside. Mom will never know."

Peter glanced at the small alarm clock on his night stand which read midnight. Throwing the covers off his body, he climbed out of bed using a flashlight to find his sneakers. Grabbing a nylon book bag that contained the orange cans of spray paint off his desk, he slung it over his shoulder and unlocked the bedroom window. Carolyn had deactivated the alarm system so he would be able to climb out of the window without waking anyone. As planned, he opened the window and climbed down the ladder he and Carolyn had placed by his window.

Climbing down the chain ladder proved an easy task for the teenager. Shifting the tote bag to the other shoulder, Peter walked around the side of the house to see a small light moving in front of him. He looked up to see Carolyn in the window waving at him. He quickly waved back and took off running down the quiet street.

Carolyn was in a panic. She held the flashlight in her hand as she quietly paced back and forth in front of her bedroom window hoping her brother would hurry home. He was already thirty minutes late and there was no sign of him anywhere.

She flipped open the curtains to take another peek outside hoping she would catch a glance of a shadow moving towards the house but for the fifth time in ten minutes she saw nothing. Hearing Kelly snoring peacefully in the next bed, Carolyn was thankful she didn't have to deal with her little sister and her thousand questions that would demand answers to why she was walking the floor at three in the morning with a flashlight in one hand and holding the window curtain in the other.

She moved closer to the window again and pulled back the curtain to see a shadow moving below her window. 'It's about time.' She said to herself before switching on the flashlight to get the attention of the person standing below her window. After switching the flash light on and off four times, she rushed silently to her brother's room and leaned out his window. "Hurry up Peter." She shook the ladder against the side of the house.

Watching the figure climbing up the ladder, Carolyn sighed in relief, moving to the bedroom door to make sure it was closed before she turned on the light. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" She heard the grunting sounds of someone having trouble climbing through the window. She whispered angrily. "You were suppose to be back here at one."

"I'm not suppose to be back here until Monday." The voice sent ribbons of fear up her spine. Oh God please let this be a dream, a nightmare anything but who is standing behind her now.

Carolyn turned around and faced the one person she was least expecting. "Daddy."

Annie opened her sightless eyes and listened for anything that was out of the ordinary. Something had awakened her from a sound sleep and she had no idea what it was. She had a strange feeling that something wasn't right and it disturbed her.

As she listened harder, she heard something. A voice! No, two voices but whose she couldn't make out. She leaned over to the side of the bed and felt for the alarm clock on the night stand. Pressing the side button, the clock quoted the time.

Three in the morning! Which of her children were up at this ungodly hour? Sitting up, she could clearly hear muffled voices coming down the hallway. "Somebody better have a good excuse is all I can say." Annie angrily threw the covers off her body and climbed out of bed.

She mentally counted to ten as she slid her feet into her favorite worn slippers and walked two paces to find her robe hanging on the bed post where she always kept it. Annie ran her arm into the robe's sleeve and muttered, "If listening to that loud mouth Reggie all day wasn't torture enough now they have to wake me up from a sound sleep. Well, I won't stand for it!"

She reached for the knob and turned it to open the door. Walking softly down the hallway, the voices became clearer and identifiable. They were coming from her son's bedroom. She stopped in mid stride after hearing her husband's loud and distinguished voice.

"I asked you a question, Carolyn," Paul's voice grew edgy. Annie knew that tone all too well. Opening her son's bedroom door, she stood inside the archway trying to understand what was going on. "Why are you in your brother's room at this hour and while we're on the subject of your brother, where is he?"

Annie canted her head, "I'd like to know the answer to that as well."

"Annie, what are you doing up?"

"I'm blind, Paul, not deaf. I think the reason I'm awake is quiet obvious, don't you? I'm just surprised Kelly isn't up with all the yelling going on in this room." She moved inside the bedroom, counting footsteps as she made her way to the bed. Touching the mattress, she sat down, placed her hands in her lap and asked, "Now that we're calmed down, could someone please tell me what's going on?"

"I think I have it figured out but you can stop me anytime if I get something wrong, Carolyn." Annie could hear the sarcasm in her husband's voice. She cringed mentally, Paul would have to pick the same night to come home that Peter chose to break curfew. If that wasn't bad enough, Carolyn had to be an accessory in the act. She listened as Paul continued on his tirade. "I come home from a twelve hour drive, well past midnight to find my daughter standing in her bedroom window switching a flashlight on and off. The only logical explanation is, she thinks I'm someone else. Am I right so far, Carolyn?"

"Yes," The teenager's voice quivered, "but Daddy..."

"Don't Daddy me and I wouldn't use the word 'but'; right now because it just might give me an idea." He said, sitting down beside Annie on the bed. "Imagine my surprise when I get over the shock of seeing my daughter up at this hour, I hear this banging coming from the side of the house. I go to investigate and what do I find, a fire escape ladder being tossed down from my son's bedroom and my daughter's yelling at me to hurry up. She doesn't take into consideration that I might be a criminal, no she just allows a dark figure to have access to the house."

Annie lifted her head, surprised at the new revelation. "I set the alarm before I went to bed. Why didn't it go off?"

"I shut it off, Mom."

"YOU DID WHAT????"

"I had to..I needed.." Carolyn stuttered, pacing the carpeted floor of her brother's bedroom. "It was the only way I knew that I could," Her daughter stopped talking abruptly and sighed heavily. "Never mind, I just did it."

"You mean you did it to help your brother sneak out of the house, don't you?" Paul stated what Annie was thinking. "I'd thought you and Peter had more sense than to pull something like this. I'd expected Kelly to do something as childish as throwing a ladder down a window to let a stranger in the house. If it's one thing I've drilled into my kids' heads is how to be safe. I come home and find out two of them haven't been listening. In fact, not only am I going..."

"Paul, it's late. We can discuss this with Carolyn in the morning." She turned to her daughter. "Go to bed and don't think for one minute because your father's mad, I'm not. I'm just as angry as he is, if not more. You've not only deceived me into a false hope of believing you and Peter were safe and asleep in your beds, but you've also succeeded in making me out to look like a fool. Do you think your father's going to feel comfortable when he's on the road away from home knowing I'm not capable of taking care of his children?"

"Annie, I never..ooff.." She jabbed Paul in the ribs, cutting off his words before her husband spoiled the guilt trip she was giving their daughter. Paul might be the disciplinarian in the family but she wasn't going to be anyone's door mat. Carolyn made her bed and now she was going to lie in it.

"Go to bed, Carolyn." Annie repeated, waiting until she heard the bedroom door close and her daughter's footsteps taking her to the bedroom she shared with Kelly. "I thought you were going to ruin everything, Paul. I'm so mad now that I can't see straight, if that's the right words for a blind chick to use at the moment." She laughed nervously, reaching for her husband's hand and squeezing it. "I'm worried about Peter. Do you think we should call Frank and have him send out an officer to look for him?"

"No sense in waking Frank up at this hour. Let me give Peter another half hour. If he hasn't come home then, I'll call the precinct." Paul answered, getting to his feet and walking to the window. "Where's that kid?"

"Daddy, please don't make me do this?" Carolyn begged, looking out her bedroom window as her brother continued to throw gravel at the window pane. She turned back to her father, the light from the full moon lit up the room just enough for her to see him clearly. She pleaded, "He's going to hate me."

"Hating you will be the least of his problems. Now do as I told you." Paul leaned over his daughter's shoulder, pulling at the curtain to look outside. Carolyn glanced up and shuttered. Her father's brow was lowered, a clear sign he was beyond angry.

She squeezed the flashlight in her hand, hoping the batteries were dead.

"Carolyn, I won't tell you again," warned Paul.

Shutting her eyes, she silently prayed her brother would forgive her as she switched on the flashlight. She flipped it on and off twice and waited. Peter waved his hand over his head and disappeared out of her sight. She knew he was heading towards his bedroom window.

Her father moved across the room. "Come on, your brother is waiting for us."

"Somebody's getting in trouble," Kelly sing-songed.

"You better get back to sleep or you're going to be in trouble."

Carolyn walked out of the room as her sister threw her covers over her head and pretended to be snoring.

'As if that would work!' Carolyn glanced at her sister before closing the door behind her. She reluctantly went across the hall to her brother's bedroom waiting for the inevitable. She was surprised to see her mother sitting on the bed.

"Mom?"

"Shush," Annie whispered angrily, "and don't you dare turn on any lights. I want him to think everything is as he left it."

Could it get any worse? Carolyn bit her fingernail, staring at the open window. She could hear her brother climbing up and knowing she was powerless to warn him made her sick to her stomach.

Peter climbed inside and closed the window behind him. "I know I'm late but it was Reggie's fault." He whispered, walking in her direction. He flipped on the light switch and Carolyn squeezed her eyes shut. "He told me he put gas in his car. Sure he did�.a dollar's worth� two days ago. I had to walk home and that was five miles. I'm beat."

She opened her eyes and looked up at her brother. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She repeated, turning her attention towards the bed and the two people sitting there enjoying her discomfort.

"What's the matter with you?" Peter asked. She nodded her head, motioning towards his bed. She heard him gasp. "Oh God!"

Kelly was having the time of her life. It was occasions like this she was glad she was the youngest and had an early bedtime. It paid off when she wanted to eavesdrop on conversations when the family thought she was asleep.

She held the glass against the wall, using it as a listening device so she could hear what was going on in her brother's room. Her father's yelling had stopped abruptly because her mother had said he was going to wake her up. The voices had died down and was inaudible. Desperate to know what was going on, she had sneaked into the bathroom and grabbed the drinking glass she kept beside the sink.

She pressed her ear harder against the glass, smiling when she heard her father's voice.

Grounded for the next month! No movies! No parties! No phone calls! No TV! No dates! She started giggling when Peter screamed "Why don't you send me to a Monastery while you're at it. I might as well become a monk since you're forcing me to become a recluse."

"How about I destroy what's left of your social life," she heard her father clearly. She didn't need the glass when he screamed. "I want your car keys. You just lost your driving privileges for the next two weeks."

"What? For just making a joke?" Peter protested.

"This has gone on long enough. I want both of you in bed in ten minutes." Kelly heard her mother speak for the first time and from the sound of it, her mother had reached the last of her patience. "Your father and I are too upset to discuss this any further tonight. We'll finish it in the morning."

"What do you mean, we'll discuss this in the morning?" Paul shouted. "I want to know why our son was out after curfew."

"In the morning, Paul." Annie said. "Give the two conspirators a chance to get their story straight so we can rip it apart later."

"Mom, we have a good�."

"Peter, don't even try to explain because I'm too angry and hurt to talk about it without saying something one of us in this room might later regret."

The bedroom door was opened and footsteps were heard walking down the hallway. Kelly knew her parents were going to their bedroom. She waited until she heard their bedroom door close before she pressed the glass back against the wall to see if she could hear Carolyn and Peter talking.

Silence greeted her, she sighed in defeat and put the glass on the night table that separated the twin beds in the room.

Kelly made it back to her bed and climbed in under the covers just as her sister came in.

Carolyn got into bed and started hitting her pillow. "I know you're not asleep, Kelly. Daddy woke the dead so I know you're awake."

"I'm sorry you got into trouble." she giggled.

"Shut up, brat, or you really will be sorry."

Kelly closed her eyes. There was no point in pushing her luck. She wasn't the one in trouble. A smile spread across her lips as she thought how Carolyn wouldn't be so cocky in the morning. Knowing their father's normal grounding policies, her big sister would be spending more time at the house than she did.

Carolyn picked up one of the three slices of bacon on her plate and bit into it. The crunching was the only sound she heard as the rest of the family remained silent. Breakfast had never been so quiet.

As she chewed, she tried to figure out what was going to happen next. It was like waiting for the other shoe to drop. It was going to drop, that she was certain. The only question was; when it would drop.

Carolyn glanced at the head of the table. Her father was reading the morning newspaper and taking his time doing it. She knew it was a ploy on his part to make her sweat it out longer, anticipating what kind of punishment was in store for her and Peter.

Oh, it was working. Working perfectly. His only words were 'I want to see you and Peter in my den as soon as breakfast is over.' Nothing more had been spoken. Never less, she was determined to make the meal last for hours if need be.

Carolyn looked across the table, hoping a few hours of sleep had softened her mother just enough to help their predicament. The second she made eye contact, Carolyn knew it was a lost cause.

Annie's eyes were hidden behind her sunglasses, but her uneaten meal proved she was either upset or angry. Carolyn watched as her mother traced her index finger around the edge of her coffee mug.

Annie might have been blind but Carolyn always felt her mother could see her better than any sighted person, including her father.

With her planned ally still in enemy camp, Carolyn grabbed her glass of orange juice and took a long sip. What was she going to do now? She looked out of the corner of her eye and watched as her brother shoved his eggs around his plate with his fork. It seemed nobody had an appetite this morning.

She tapped his leg with her hand and got his attention. "It's going to be all right," she whispered, nodding in Paul's direction. "I know how to handle Daddy."

"Do you, now?" Paul lowered his newspaper and stared at her.

The food on her plate suddenly looked interesting. The door bell chimed. "I'll get it," she volunteered, getting to her feet. What great timing, she thought as she rushed down the hallway before anyone had time to speak.

She glanced into the peep hole and saw Mr. Robinson standing on the front porch. Her father was already in a bad mood, leave it to 'Buzzard face' Robinson to show up to make things worse.

She gasped, realizing the only reason Robinson was visiting was because of Peter. He must have seen her brother on the Robinson's property last night. She bit her nail, debating if she should open the door.

The doorbell chimed again and Carolyn hoped the man would go away if nobody answered. No such luck. Robinson started banging on the door.

"Carolyn, answer the door."

"Blaisdell, I want to talk to you." Robinson yelled.

"What's that fool doing here, and at this hour of the morning?" She heard Annie ask before chairs were shoved back.

Carolyn took another deep breath and then opened the door.

"I want to see your father, young lady." Robinson glared at her through the screen storm door. He put his hands on his hips and tried to look inside the home. "I know he's home. Go get him."

She was on the verge of telling the Insurance salesman her father wasn't home when she heard heavy footsteps approaching her from behind.

"What do you want, Robinson?" Her father appeared beside her. She looked up, the angry expression on her father's face had deepened. "Don't you think it's a little early for a visit?"

"This isn't a social call, Blaisdell." Larry Robinson stepped away from the front door. "I want you to come outside and take a look at what that juvenile delinquent you took in did to Richard's car."

"Don't start with me, Robinson. Your family's accusations against my kids stops now. You push me any further, I'll charge you with harassment and haul your ass to jail." Paul opened the front door and stepped out unto the front porch.

As the two men walked out of her view, Carolyn pondered if she should go outside but a noise behind her made her turn around. Her brother was standing in the hallway. "It's Mr. Robinson," she whispered, moving to join him, "He's showing Dad Richard's car."

"Good, I want him to see what his jerk of a son did to my car." He was out the door before she could stop him.

Paul walked out into the front yard expecting an all out brawl with the stuffy insurance salesmen, instead what he saw parked in his driveway made him stop in his tracks. Not sure if the morning light was playing tricks on him or if what he was seeing was a reality, Paul raised his hand over his eyes, shielding him from the sun's glare. He had to stop himself from laughing out loud.

Parked in the driveway was Richard's yellow corvette. Two days ago, he had been the unfortunate victim of listening to Larry's bragging of how much the car had cost. He looked again at the parked car and didn't bother to hide his expression. He laughed out loud.

The shinny metallic paint that all new cars had was still visible, but another addition had been added to the paint since Paul had last seen the car. Large orange dots now adorned the car, making the vehicle looked like a large piece of Swiss cheese on wheels.

Larry pounded his fist on the roof of the corvette. "This is vandalism." Another car pulling in behind the corvette caught his attention. Larry recognized the driver and glared at him. "I see one of the hoodlums has returned to the scene of the crime."

"Nice to see you too, Mr. Robinson." Reggie climbed out of his used pickup truck, grinning as he took his time examining the corvette. "I see you bought a hunk of cheese for your rat, uh son." He laughed. "Richard get tired of his Barbie dream house?"

"You got a mouth on you, punk." Robinson said.

"Yeah, my father tells me that all the time." Reggie chuckled, "but he doesn't have to bribe girls to go out with me. Aren't those 1-900 numbers getting expensive?"

"Reggie, is there a reason why you're here?" Paul asked, annoyed because the teenager thought he could visit anytime he wanted. Paul watched Reggie strutting around the corvette like some rooster. What did his son see in this character? The kid was annoying, smart mouthed and the biggest pain in the rear end imaginable. The more he knew the boy, the more Paul was convinced Reggie was the poster child for birth control.

"Hi, Reg."

Paul looked over his shoulder. Peter had come outside with Carolyn, who was guiding Annie behind him.

"Well, since the entire family has gathered, how about we get this mattered settled right now." Robinson glared at both of the teenage boys. "Do you know how much it's going to cost to repair the damage you two did?"

"Warning! Warning! Mr. Robinson!" Reggie fisted his hands and shook them in opposite directions up and down his chest, acting like the Robot on Lost In Space. "It does not compute."

"Reggie, either go home or stop acting like an ass." Paul stated, hoping the boy would take the hint and leave.

"I didn't touch Richie's car." Reggie defended himself, dashing Paul's hopes of the boy taking his advice. "In fact, I've got a good alibi. Call Pizza Hut. I worked last night."

"It's Richard!" Larry corrected.

"What about what Richard did to my car?" Peter joined the conversation. "The jerk put sugar in my gas tank."

"Did you see him do it? There's a law that says you're innocent until proven guilty." Robinson asked, eyeing the boy with a suspicious glare that Paul didn't like. "Richard doesn't have a record, but you do, don't you? I hear you spent some time in a juvenile hall. What did you do, steal a car?"

"Why you..."

"Peter." Paul warned, raising a hand to his son's shoulder to keep the young man in place. "Let me handle this, okay?"

"But Paul.."

"It's all right, son. He's not going to get away with it. Trust me." He squeezed Peter's shoulder, turned and glared at the man. "Get off of my property, Robinson. If I have to drag out off it, I will."

"I'll sell tickets." Reggie volunteered. He gave the teenager a glare that made the boy retract his idea. "I'll uh..shut up now, sir."

"Larry, Peter was home at ten last night. What time did you see someone sabotaging your son's car?" Annie asked nicely even though Paul knew she was fishing information out of Robinson. She, like he wanted to know exactly what proof Larry had to accuse their son of the crime. If the man was harassing their son then all hell was about to break lose.

"You'd say anything to protect that little bastard, wouldn't you?"

"Are you calling me a liar?" Annie challenged him. "It's a good thing I can't see you, Larry because I'd slap your face if I could."

Robinson walked back to the corvette and opened the driver's door. He stood inside the door and looked at Peter. "Swear to me you weren't on my property last."

"I wasn't on your property last night." Peter answered flatly. "Are you going to pay to have my car fixed?"

Robinson didn't say another word. He started the engine and drove off.

Paul sighed, he still had the unfinished business from breakfast to deal with. No sense in wasting anymore time. He glanced in his daughter's direction. She must have known what he was thinking because she was trying to back track towards the house. "Carolyn, I want you and Peter in my den and both of you will wait until your mother and I get there."

Carolyn tried to coaxes her mother into the house, but Annie gently forced her hand free. "I'll stay out here with your father. You and your brother do as Paul told you."

Carolyn returned to the house, but Peter remained where he was. "Uh Paul, there's something I've got to tell you."

"You want to tell us you painted Richard's car? We already know that." Annie said, her arms now folded against her chest. It took all Paul's will power to keep from laughing. The look on his son's face was priceless. Peter was in a state of shock. "You can close your mouth, Peter." Annie continued, "When are you going to learn, there's nothing you do that I don't know or find about, eventually."

"But I didn't lie." Peter declared. "Robinson asked if I was on his property last night. I wasn't. I left here at midnight. Actually, that's today." His son tried to explain further. "Paul, Richard damaged my car. What was I supposed to do? Stand here and do nothing?"

"He's right!" Reggie added. "I wouldn't let Robinson get away with messing around with my ride."

"Who asked you?" Paul shouted, not caring who had heard. "It's Saturday. Why don't you go home and do your father a favor and cut his grass?"

"It's October! The grass stopped growing weeks ago and besides, he does the cutting. The old man throws a gasket if someone even attempts to mow the lawn." The boy said, a huge grin spreading across his face. "How about I cut your lawn? For a little fee of course."

"Go home, Reggie. I doubt Peter's going to be leaving the house anytime soon."

"Really, how unfortunate for Captain Caine." The boy placed his arm around Paul's shoulders. "There's plenty of tickets for today's ball game. I say, you buy us some tickets and we take in the game."

"How about I get my hands on a body bag and you jump in it." Paul suggested, smiling when Reggie's face turned white.

He left the boy standing, taking Annie by the hand and the two headed back towards the house.

Annie tapped his arm, trying to hide a smile. "Really, Paul, you should be ashamed of yourself."

"He was just kidding, Reg." He heard Peter tell his friend.

"You sure?" The boy asked. "Look Caine, something's come up. I'll give you a yell later."

"Peter," Paul opened the door, allowing his wife to enter the house. "I'm waiting. My den. Now!"

The leather chair in her father's den never felt so uncomfortable. No matter how she twisted and turned, Carolyn was in absolute misery. 'How much longer was she and Peter going to be grilled with the lecture from hell?'

It was bad enough her father vowed neither one of them would ever see freedom again... At least, not until ten inches of snow fell in Miami, Florida. Paul's ranting caused a quiet groan to escape Carolyn's lips, prompting the police captain to give her a glare.

A phone call interrupted Paul's next onslaught of parental tirades. Knowing what was in store for her, Carolyn crossed her eyes at the pensive Peter, indicating to him this the waiting business had become became unbearable

"Broderick, he said he would be there. Just be patient." Paul spoke into the phone receiver. Sighing, he added. "I know the man, if he said he will be there, he will. It might be late tonight but he will be there." He concluded as he scratched an irritating spot above his right eye.

Peter had started pacing back and forth, ever since the telephone had interrupted Paul's verbal lambasting. He stopped only when the phone called ended. "Come on Paul, you can't be serious."

"It's your choice, Peter," Paul said, reaching for the wooden box that was a fixture on his desk. He flipped open the lid and pulled out a cigar and stated with a matter-of-fact tone which was worse than yelling. It meant their father was beyond the bartering stage "I told you, you can either stay home tonight and pull candy duty or you can take Kelly trick or treating. What's it going to be?"

"Why can't I take Kelly out for a few hours and...."

"No deals. You choose one and it's final. No changing your mind." Blaisdell said as he lit the cigar in his mouth and tossed the spent match into a ceramic ash tray Kelly had made for him for Father's Day that year.

"I guess...I guess I'll take Kelly trick or treating then," Peter answered reluctantly as he stared out the window and chewed on his lower lip. He turned back around and glared at their father. "I hope you realize you're ruining my reputation. Baby-sitting, and on Halloween."

"You're sixteen, Peter, you're not supposed to have a reputation." Paul leaned over the desk to emphasis his point, "Let me rephrase that. You better not have a reputation, young man."

"Rob Lowe wouldn't have a reputation if he lived in this house." Peter whined as he plopped onto the sofa. It could have been his death bed as far as he was concerned. He closed his eyes as he sank into the deep cushions of the sofa.

Paul got to his feet, but before he could open his mouth, there was a knock pounded on the door and Annie walked in.

"Paul, I just got a call from Jane Emerson. It seems they had tickets for the opera tonight and now they can't go because Jim got called into to work. She asked if we wanted them and I had to tell her we couldn't accept." Her voice turned harsh with disappointment. "I couldn't tell her the truth that we have to stay home with the kids tonight since two of them can't be trusted to be left home alone."

Carolyn closed her eyes and tried to melt into the chair she was sitting. 'How could things get worse?' She thought to herself. First, she was going to miss out on the party of the year. Now her mother was applying another one of her trade mark guilt trips. It would be just her luck if the opera singer wasn't Annie's favorite, Luciano Pavarotti.

"Who is the singer, Annie?" Paul asked, a wary, foxlike smile appearing on his face. Carolyn knew that smile all too well and and it didn't bode well for those poor souls currently residing in his dog house.

"Placido Domingo."

"That's who I thought. Call Jane back and tell her we accept her offer." Paul stood and walked around the desk. "I'm sure we can call a neighbor to come over and watch the kids tonight."

"What!" Carolyn and Peter yelled in unison.

Carolyn jumped out of her chair and approached her father in a panic. "Daddy, please don't do that. I swear that I'll never do anything wrong again. I'll do my homework and chores without being told, just please don't call a baby sitter. We'll be the laughing stock of the school."

"She's right, Paul." Peter moved to his mother's side to plead their case. "Mom, I swear, I'll never make you distrust me again. I'll even cook dinner if..."

"Peter, your idea of a square meal is pizza with all the toppings." Annie laughed. "Paul, do you think these two can be trusted to spend the night at home alone? Jane also said they had reservations for the Regency as well."

"I don't know Annie. What about Kelly?"

"She's invited over to the Johnson's for a sleep over."

Paul took a minute as he grimaced in a fatherly frown. He seemed to be considering any and all relative factors. Carolyn gave a silent sigh of relief with he finally agreed.

Her victory was short lived, when her father stared at her and her brother and pointed a finger in their direction, "All right, but the grounding still stands. Carolyn, you are not to leave this house tonight and Peter, once you take Kelly over to the Johnson's, you're not to go anywhere else but home. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir." both answered.

"I want it perfectly understood. I will not broker any violation of these instructions�You do NOT want to see the consequences of those actions." Teenage heads nodded in solemn agreement.

"Now that's settled, Annie and I can enjoy our evening." Paul moved across the floor, taking his wife by the arm. He opened the door and turned, "I'm expecting a call from the precinct, Carolyn, so don't tie up the phone."

"Yes Daddy." She answered, watching them leave the room. She sighed in relief. "Oh man, that was close."

Her brother wasn't convinced. "I think I'd rather be stuck at the house with them. At least I could tell everyone I was grounded, instead of being at the party. That way I wouldn't be forced to take my sister out begging for candy."

"Who said we can't have our own party after Kelly is out of the house?" Carolyn said in a singsong voice of pure mischief.

"What? Are you nuts?" Peter glared at her. "Didn't you hear Paul? He said...."

"He said we couldn't go to the party." She lowered her voice and whispered. "but he didn't say anything about throwing our own party." Carolyn reached up and placed her fingers across Peter's lips to keep him from protesting. "Big brother, there's so much you've got to learn about being a teenager and since I'm the resident expert, consider yourself blessed."

"Cursed is more like it." He muttered, leaving the room before she had a chance to shout an insult.

With the last of the overnight bags inside, Paul slammed the car trunk shut and got inside the car. A quick wave and another round of rules expected to be obeyed and the parents were gone.

Two hours later, Kelly yelled from her upstairs bedroom. "Peter, I'm almost ready to go."

"What costume is she wearing?" Peter looked inside the candy bowl and picked out several chocolate bars and stuffed them inside his jacket. "The only thing she'll tell me is that she's going as a rock star."

"My lips are sealed. She wants to surprise you." Carolyn answered, happy to have a legitimate excuse for denying her brother what he wanted. To further emphasize her power over Peter, she grabbed the bowl out of her brother's hand. "If we run out of candy, man of the house, you can deal with those angry treaters, yourself!"

"Madonna, right?" Peter asked, ignoring her threat. "She's going as Madonna. Every girl is going as Madonna."

"No...." Carolyn said, shaking her head as she plopped the bowl of candy atop the entryway table and stood guard in front of it.

"Who cares anyway." He said, watching the hallway. "Kelly, will you hurry up. It's already dark outside."

"I'm coming." Kelly came down the stairs dressed as 'Boy George.' She showed off her costume to her brother and sister. "What do you think?"

"I think you look great." Carolyn declared as she gave her sister two pillow cases. "The Johnson's are expecting you at nine so you better get going." She winked at her brother. "I've got a phone call to make. Susan wants to come over and we plan to watch horror movies tonight. You want me to call Reggie?"

"He's at work. You and Susan order us a pizza and have him deliver it to the house."

"Daddy said Reggie couldn't come over while he's gone." Kelly said, with forceful authority, folding the pillow cases and tucking them under her arm. She narrowed her eyes, a waif-like shadow of her father's tone and mannerisms, as she warned her older siblings of a possible infraction "You better not do...."

Nudging the youngest Blaisdell along gently, Peter said as he opened the door and held it open for her, "He works at the pizza place, squirt. He has to deliver our order." Rolling his eyes before he muttered as enthusiastically as he could manage, "Let's get out of here and hope nobody sees me." Turning to Carolyn, he said as he leaned closer. "Call Susan and tell her she can spend the night, but you better not call anyone else."

"Party pooper!" Carolyn stuck out her lower lip in a feigned pout.

"I mean it!" Peter threatened, puffing out his chest. "After all, I'm the oldest, so I'm in charge."

"Okay, I promise. Sheesh, what a grouch!" Carolyn slammed the door after Peter and Kelly had already exited, thinking to herself, the better she played it for Kelly's benefit the more Peter would believe she was following his instructions. 'Ha! Maybe I should try out for the school play�' She chuckled at her own joke as she turned towards the phone.

Soon Carolyn was calling her friend. "That's right, Susan, call everyone and tell them the Robinson party has been canceled. We're having it here."

Halloween night was typically one of the busiest nights of the year for the police department. Of course, it didn't help that there was a full moon out the same night. Nuts cases were coming out of the wood work faster than worms out of the ground on a rainy day.

A man in a superman outfit walked into the precinct and with hands on his hips, shouted. "Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane. It's Superman!"

Sergeant Strenlich shook his head in disbelief. 'When was it going to end?' He and Broderick had recently booked a man for disturbing the peace. Claiming he was turning into a werewolf, the man bit the arresting officers and was rewarded with a night in the holding tank.

Frank got to his feet, kicking his chair behind him as he approached the man in tights. "Look, if don't get out of here, I'm going to find some red Krptonite and stuff it down your spandex underwear."

"Lex Luther, I'd know your face anywhere." The man declared, pointing his finger at Strenlich. "Do you not know who I am? It's me, Superman. See my big 'S'?" Then he staggered as he pointed the emblem on his chest.

"Try jogging. It does wonders for the physique." Someone yelled from behind the bullpen.

As laughter erupted. 'Superman' climbed on top of the front desk, crying out so loudly, every head in the area turned in his direction. "Up! Up, and away!" He jumped off the desktop before anyone could stop him and crumbled to the floor.

Frank reached down and helped the man to his feet. Unfortunately, Strenlich got a whiff of his breath and waved his hand in front of his face. "Looks like our strange visitor from another planet has another weakness.. the bottle. Come on Clark, I've got a friend for you that you're just gonna love. We call him, Wolfy."

Peter pushed the button on his watch and watched the dial light up, displaying the time. The glow-in-the-dark watch had been a birthday gift from his sisters. It was only a quarter past eight. Only forty-five minutes left on this baby-sitting job and he would be free to return home to a boring night of eating pizza and watching corny horror movies. Some way to spend Halloween night!

The full moon gave off plenty of light, but Kelly preferred sticking to her brother's side like a second shadow. He now was stuck holding her pillow case which was now almost full with candy.

"Kelly, if you can't carry your own candy then it's time to stop." Peter's complaining had absolutely no effect on his youngest sister, then he tried reasoning with her. He hoped she would come to her own decision of stopping this endless candy hunt and finally calling it a night, so he pressed on," The Johnsons' are probably waiting on you."

"Just a few more houses, please Peter." Kelly pleaded and while Peter was considering her request, she turned and ran towards the house across the street.

"Peter?" A female voice called from behind him. "Is that you?"

He turned and saw a girl standing beside a parked car in the yard they had just passed. "Hi Julie. You live here?" ?" Peter's voice squeaked ever so slightly as he tried to sound nonchalant about being discovered holding a brimming bag of trick-or-treat candy.

"Yeah, I just got back from taking my brother to a party." She said, reaching inside the car and pulling out her purse. "What are you doing here?"

"Kelly wanted to go trick or treating so I got stuck doing that." He glanced over his shoulder, his little sister was still standing at the front porch, smiling sweetly as she held the second pillow care open for the candy which was being dropped inside.

He turned his attention to Julie and sighed. The high school cheerleader was so beautiful, even in the shadowy moonlight, the mere sight of her made his heart ache. One day, he swore he would get the nerve up to ask her out. No time like the present, he thought as he gathered up his courage. He opened his mouth to speak but it was his sister's voice which that came out.

"Peter, come on. Let's go." Kelley begged.

"Not now, Kelly." He muttered under his breath as Kelly grabbed his hand trying to pull him on down the road.

"Just a few more." She whined.

"Here, runt, take this." He gave her the flashlight and pointed in the direction of the house two doors down. "You go ahead and I'll catch up." Peter decided that was the best concession he could come up with.

"Okay." Kelly took off without looking back.

"So, Julie, what are you doing tonight?" Peter asked the girl of his dreams in his most manly sounding voice.

The little girl walked past his hiding place making her way towards the house at the end of the street. He had picked the perfect place to ambush her. The house was separated by the same woods he was standing in from the rest of the subdivision.

He took a quick glance up the street making sure the two teenagers were still engaged in a conversation before he pulled the hockey mask over his face and stepped in behind the little girl.

She kept swinging the flashlight back and forth totally unaware he was following behind her. He grabbed her shoulder and waited for the fun to start.

"Peter, I'm glad you're here. It's kinda spooky." She turned, expecting to see her brother standing there behind her. Even in the moonlight, he could see her shocked expression. The candy bag she was holding fell to the ground in her frightened surprise.

It all happened too fast. Kelly's flashlight was thrown at his feet before he could do anything to stop her. She screamed her brother's name twice before running off into the woods in a blind panic.

Peter's dream of asking Julie out quickly turned into a horrifying nightmare. He had just started a conversation with the pretty cheer leader when their magic spell was broken by the terrified screaming of Kelly Blaisdell.

This was no Halloween prank played by his clever little sister to distract him from his romantic interactions. No, there was pure fright conveyed in her screeching screams.

"I'll get my dad." Julie said, recognizing the danger Kelly had to be in and ran inside her house, yelling herself for her father's assistance.

Peter could hear his heart beating through his ear drums as he flew down the street, running as fast as his feet could carry him in the direction in which he had last seen his sister. "Kelly?" He screamed after catching his breath. He frantically spun around, looking in all directions for her, trying to see through the darkness. "Kelly, answer me."

A trig snapped nearby and Peter spun around in the direction he had heard the sound, his full focus was on locating the source of that sound.

A dark figure, holding the same flashlight Peter had given Kelly, came out of the woods, moving toward him. The figure saw him and came to a complete stop, just standing there, looking at Peter but not moving.

Peter felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach with the certainty of evil or some type of harm befalling his sister. Knowing the figure had been in contact with Kelly and he could see for himself she was no longer with him, Peter's fear transformed itself into pure rage and he rushed the individual who was in the process of removing the hockey mask.

Peter tackled the person's mid section and the two fell to the dew soaked grass, rolling around until Peter managed to get the upper hand. He trapped the figure on the ground and grabbed a hand full of hair and rammed his prisoner's head into the ground. "Where's my sister?" He demanded in a voice hoarse with fury.

"I..I didn't mean it." Reggie's muffled voice managed to reach Peter's panicked mind. He rolled off his friend's body and grabbed the hockey mask while Reggie gasped for air.

Peter clasped Reggie's hand and angrily yanked him to his feet, waiting for some stupid explanation to come from his friend's lips. He dug his hands into Reggie's shirt, pulling fistfuls of cloth and shook him violently. "You give me one good reason why I shouldn't knock your teeth down your throat."

"I only wanted to scare her because she told your dad on me last week." Reggie's voice sounded very juvenile as he pulled out of Peter's reach and bent down to retrieve the fallen flashlight. The light flickered several times and went out. Reggie flipped the switch, trying to get the device to work properly. "I didn't think the brat would freak out and run off like she did."

Peter grabbed the flashlight out of Reggie's hand, slapping it hard with his palm until the light brighten. Reggie jumped in fear as if he thought Peter was going to slug him with it. Peter shined the light in Reggie's face, not wanting to say one more word to his asinine friend than he had to, so he barked, "Where did she go?"

Reggie shielded his eyes and pointed over his shoulder. "That way. I tried to go after her but she gave me the slip."

"If anything happens to Kelly, Reg, I swear I'll rearrange your face." Peter shoved him out of his way and ran towards the woods. He heard his friend running behind him, trying to keep up but Peter could care less if he could or not. All that mattered now was finding Kelly safe and sound.

The party was well under way before Carolyn began to notice how the crowd was growing much larger. The guests were wearing costumes, making identifying them hard to identify. Some, she assumed had to be in high school because they were as tall as her father and others looked to be members of the school's football team.

She scanned the room in search of her friend who was dressed as a 'Genie'. It wasn't hard for Carolyn to spot the long blond ponytail wig which Susan had attached to the back of her head. Walking through the crowd of teenagers, Carolyn made her way to her friend and grabbed her arm, leading her away to the kitchen in hopes the room would be empty.

Three people who were dressed as the Three Stooges were wrestling on the floor and banging into the walls while still on their feet. Two of the roughhousers grabbed the other member of their party and threw him against the refrigerator.

The impact caused a heavy vibration to rock the kitchen glass cabinets doors. The doors above the oven's exhaust fan started to move. They flew open and items fell out on to the floor.

Susan gasped for air, causing Carolyn to turn to investigate. Annie's crystal bowl was tilting precariously. Her friend shouted. "Carolyn, your mom's punch bowl."

She rushed to the oven, stretched and managed to reach the punch bowl before it tilted over. Carolyn gave a silent sigh of relief, thankful she had saved the bowl and herself from certain disaster. She pushed the bowl back in place and with a nervous hand, she closed the door behind it.

The three stooges looked at each other and then slapped one another while yelling, "Knuckle heads, look what you did."

"Get out!" Carolyn screamed. She grabbed a dry towel and managed to slap one of the stooges across the back before the three retreated in haste. She looked at her friend and exclaimed, "Who are these idiots?"

Susan shrugged, "I've counted at least seventy people. I only invited twenty. I bet you, this is Reggie's doing. I made the mistake of telling him about the party."

Carolyn glanced at the clock on the stove and moved to the sink to stare out the window. "Where's Peter? It's after ten. He should have been home thirty minutes ago."

"I wouldn't worry, Carolyn," Susan joined her at the sink and grabbed a glass out of the drain board and poured herself a glass of water. She drank half the glass, then sat it in the sink. "Kelly must have talked Peter into taking her to another subdivision. You know how she can be if she wants something."

"Yeah, maybe." Carolyn tried to sound convincing as she continued to stare out the window. She could make out the porch lights shining from the house next door. Leaning closer over the sink, she hoped to catch a glimpse of her brother but she had no such luck. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

Susan laughed a nervous laugh. "I think you've been watching too much Star Wars."

Kelly had no idea where she was or where she was going. These woods never seemed so dark and big during the day. Twice she had tripped over something and twice she had passed the same dead bent tree.

She stopped running long enough to look behind her to see if anyone was still chasing her. She heard something, but had no idea what it was. The one thing Kelly did know, she wasn't going to stand around to find out what else was in the woods with her.

Through the moonlight, she could see a hill off to her right. She took off running in that direction. Reaching the top, Kelly didn't bother to slow down. She kept running, hoping to find someone who would help her.

She heard her foot hit the ground and the sound of stiff grass crunching under her foot, then nothing. She never had time to scream before the ground disappeared out from underneath her.

Two hours of listening to loud rock music blaring from the Blaisdell home was too much for Charles Golden's nerves to handle.

He paced the length of his living room floor, debating what to do. Moving to the big bay window, Charles pulled back the curtain, he stared out across the street at the Blaisdell house.

"You would think since the man's a cop, he'd raise his kids better than this." Charles stated.

"Oh, I seem to remember our son throwing a party or two while we were away. Hank was older and in college at the time too." Agnes, his wife of twenty-years declared. A sparkle in her eyes appeared before she smiled. "Charles close the curtain and sit down or the neighbors will think you're spying on them."

"I'm not spying! I'm only doing my duty as a good neighbor. Annie and Paul would never allow all those kids in their house while they're not home." Charles pulled the curtain back further, watching as the same dark truck slowly drove down the road for the fifth time in the ten minutes. The driver pulled into his driveway, parked and got out.

Charles felt his blood pressure raising as he continued to watch the antics of the unwanted visitor in his yard. The teen-age driver reached into the cab of the truck and pulled out two packages and walked across the street.

"Now they're bringing in beer. This is the last straw." Charles dropped the curtain and made his way to the door. "I'm going over there and break up that mess." He left the house before he would give his wife a chance to stop him.

Walking across the street, he shook his head in disgust. Cars were parked up and down the street, barely leaving room for residence to have access to their own driveways.

With each step Golden took, the angrier he became. He walked across the Blaisdells' front yard, making his way to the door. He balled his hand into a fist and started pounding on the door.

The door opened and Count Dracula appeared, holding a can of beer in one hand and a sandwich in the other. "Good evening." The teenager said in his best 'Transalvianan' accent.

Charles glanced over the Count's shoulder to see teenagers and young adults dancing, screaming and running around in the house. "Cut down the racket over here or I'm calling the police."

Dracula laughed, sipped his beer and belched. "Aw, go home and soak your feet, pops." The door was slammed shut in Golden's face.

Charles marched back to the house, determined to put a stop to the punk and his friends party. This was his home and neighborhood. If parents couldn't control their kids then the police would. He entered his home, picked up the phone and dialed. "Yes, this is Charles Golden, I want to file a complaint."

Strenlich came out of the back office, pulled out his chair and dropped down into it. He ran his hands over his face trying to make sense out of his commander's orders.

"Something wrong?" Blake asked.

"You don't think it's kinda odd, the Captain would give a job to a man with no proof of a prior history in law enforcement?"

"If it's one thing I know about Blaisdell," Blake glanced at the small office in the back and then back at Frank, "he never does anything without a reason.

"Wonder what that reason is." Frank wondered out loud. Blaisdell had been very discreet about the man, who was now a member of the 101st. He wondered what the old man was not telling him about their newest co-worker. The only thing Frank knew about the man was that he was some computer wizard, who made it very clear that he valued his privacy.

Privacy. Whoever heard of a cop demanding privacy in a police precinct? A prefect stranger shows up and gets a private office, while he was still a detective, sitting out in the bullpen with a bunch of rookies nearly half his age.

Blaisdell had told him Chief Lawson was transferring to another precinct and the position of Chief of Detectives would be open in three weeks and Blaisdell wanted him for the job. The more Frank thought about it the more the idea started to appeal to him.

Frank smiled, looking around the bullpen, he came to a decision. He was going to tell Blaisdell on Monday that he wanted the job.

The 101st needed a little more discipline when Blaisdell was out of the office and Frank knew he was the right man for the job. Oh yeah, a marine's touch was what this place needed.

He checked his typewriter and started typing up a record that was due several hours ago. If it was one thing Frank hated more than crime, it was his co-workers handing in their paper work late.

Broderick hung up the phone and started laughing. "That's the fourth call I've taken in the past ten minutes. It seems some kids are throwing a wild party while their parents are away for the weekend."

"What's so funny about that? It happens all the time."

Broderick wrote the information down on a pad and tore the top sheet off. "Anyone want to play party pooper? The chief wants me to check out a complaint at the mall. A weirdo, dressed as a skeleton was signing 'dem bones, dem bones' and attacking customers at the mall." Broderick yanked his jacket free from the back of his chair. "I've about decided the Desk Sergeant has it made around here. He never has to go out on these loony calls."

"I'll handle the kids and the party." Frank took the information from Broderick and started towards the door, then stopped. Nothing like the present to break in a new recruit. "How about our secret seeking detective riding along on this little errand? I want to see how he deals with a bunch of smart mouth teenagers"

"Sorry, but our mystery partner just left." Broderick informed him. "He said he had something to do and would see us Monday."

"Must be nice to come and go as you please around here." Strenlich folded the note in his pocket. "Why do I get stuck hauling the kids who have nothing better to do than cause trouble?"

"Speaking of which, Frank, I think you better take a good look at that address." Broderick left the bullpen laughing, "I think you may find it interesting."

Strenlich looked down at the paper Broderick had given him and cursed out loud. It was the Captain's home address. His eyes widened, hearing several people giggling behind his back. He knew he had been set up. Broderick must have told everyone while he was interviewing Griffin.

"Oh this is just great," Strenlich complained as he stuffed the paper in his pocket. He picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Yeah, who is this?" An unfamiliar voiced answered, "and what do you want?"

"Who is this?" Frank shouted into the phone. "It's the police, that's who it is." He heard the party on the other end groan. It only made him angrier. Kids today have no respect for authority. "Let me speak with Carolyn or Peter."

"Carolyn's busy and Peter's not here. Call back later, say Christmas," the voice giggled, "or better yet, when hell freezes over."

"Well hell's just froze over, Smart Ass, and you're about to meet Lucifer, himself." Frank pushed the button and disconnected the line. He dialed an extension, trying hard to keep a straight face because he knew everyone within hearing the phone conversation was eavesdropping wanting to know what he would do next. "Hank, it's Frank. I'm going to need a police van. I've got a feeling it's going to be filled to capacity on this call."

"Want some help?" Blake offered, grabbing his jacket and moving by the front desk and towards the stairs before anyone could stop him.

"What do you know about teen-agers, Blake?" Frank wanted to know. He walked down the stairs, the older detective following close behind him.

"You'd be surprised at what I know." Blake answered, in a confident voice Frank hadn't heard before. It wouldn't surprise him one bit if the timid Blake had a few secrets himself.

It took a few minutes before the police van arrived. "I'll drive." Frank said. He opened the driver's door and climbed inside the vehicle.

Blake buckled the seat belt, flipped on the police radio and reported to dispatch their ETA. "How are we going to handle this one? I mean, it's Blaisdell's kids."

Frank didn't answer. What could he say? He had no idea what he was going to do.

The last hour had seemed liked an eternity for Peter. He felt as if he had been born in the woods. The only sounds he could hear were the chirping of crickets and the hooting of an owl, Peter swore was living in every tree he had walked under. He gripped the flashlight in his hand, uncertain why he was still carrying it around. The batteries had died, leaving him and Reggie to continue the search by moonlight.

Peter had called his sister's name until his throat was sore and still he hadn't heard a sound from Kelly. Nothing to give him any idea which direction she might have gone.

Reggie grabbed his shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze. Peter turned, his friend's eyes were wide, almost in shock, a clear sign Reggie was worried, more than he was letting on. "I think we better get the police."

"No!" Peter shook his head, retreating a few steps, making sure he was out of his friend's reach. "I'm not leaving Kelly out here alone."

"Peter, what good is it going to do Kelly if you get lost out here?" Reggie took a step in his direction. "We're fumbling around in the dark and if we're not too careful, someone might get hurt because we can't see two feet in front of us. Be reasonable."

"It's not your sister out here." Peter shouted. Reggie was an only child, how could his friend possibly understand, and then there was Kelly. He couldn't attempt to imagine what she was going through.

Panic swept through him as recent news events of missing children flashed in his mind. Three girls had disappeared and were found weeks later murdered in a neighboring town.

The killer had been found but an air of uneasiness still hung over the town. Parents were leery of allowing their children to go out on Halloween but most had relented when the police promised a higher profile presence.

Paul and Annie had trusted him with their youngest daughter's safety and Peter had failed them miserable. He knew he had to find Kelly, no matter what happened to him. His sister was depending on him. "She's just a little kid, Reggie. Kelly might be hurt or worse. What if she's close by and we leave? Do you have any idea what could happen if she's..

"Easy, Peter. We'll find her, but we need help and you know it."

As much as he hated to admit it, Peter knew his friend was right. If he had any hope of finding his sister, he'd have to go home and call the police. The worst part would be telling Carolyn what happened.

Marc Beckman, aka Count Dracula, the self appointed door greeter at Carolyn's Halloween party was enjoying his position. He'd already tossed out three guys the rival high school trying to crash the party. Those jerks never stood a chance.

Then there was the bossy neighbor from across the street. That man ran back to his home with his tail between his legs. Marc couldn't remember having so much fun.

He shook the can in his hand and announced to all that could hear him. "Hey, I'm empty here."

As usual, everyone ignored him. Beckman was about to get another can when someone started pounding on the door. 'Duty calls.' He opened the door, expecting the same nosy neighbor to be standing on the front porch, instead he found a man wearing dark sunglasses standing there in the neighbor's place.

"Aren't you a little too old to be trick-or-treating?" Beckman asked the visitor, not bothering to hide his dislike of the visitor's attire. "Where did you buy your suit, The Salvation Army?"

The man grabbed him by the cape and jerked him forward. "I'm Mr. Manners, I'm here to teach class."

Marc, too terrified to offer any resistance, let the man push him back into the house. He heard the door close behind him.

"Call your friends." The man demanded, shoving Marc against the wall before pulling out his wallet and flashing a badge and Id. Marc gasped, leave it to him to insult a cop with an attitude.

"Quiet!" Marc yelled, trying to get someone's attention. When his pleas went unanswered, he turned to the visitor, "They won't listen to me."

"Wait here." The man ordered, walking down the hallway. Marc watched him disappear out of his view, wondering what the man was going to do next. The stranger seemed to know his way around the house as if he had been in the home before. Perhaps he was right, but Marc was too afraid to ask the man.

Marc didn't have to wait long to know the man's intentions. The lights went out, the music died and everyone went quiet. Marc knew the man had flipped the main circuit breaker.

Marc swallowed, trying to wet his sudden dry throat. Who was this man? He wasn't like any of the other normal neighbors he had met in the neighborhood. They were easily intimidated, but this man was in a class all to himself.

Before he could think what was going to happen next, the power was restored and the man was coming back up the hallway. "I want everyone in the front room. NOW!"

Carolyn, with arms crossed against her chest, angrily glared at the intruder. "Who do you think you are?"

"A friend of your father's." The man smiled slightly, showing her his badge and then a photograph. "I'm guessing he's not here."

"Uh no," Carolyn laughed nervously. She looked from guest to guest before she returned the photograph to the owner. "Daddy's away for the night."

The man stuffed the photo back inside his wallet , walked over to a chair and sat down. "I'll wait."

Kelly opened her eyes and slowly sat up trying to remember where she was. Looking up, she could see the moon shining through the trees above her.

Kelly got to her feet, thankful the moon was bright enough for her to see her surroundings. She looked in all directions and realized she was standing inside a deep pit that had to be twice the height of her father.

There were several roots sticking out of one side of the pit, enough for Kelly to use them to climb out of the pit to safety.

She reached for the closest root, pulled it, testing it to see it would hold her weight. Satisfied, it was safe, Kelly pulled herself up and reached for the second root. The root gave way, pulling out clunks of dirt with it as Kelly lost her balance and fell back down into the pit.

Kelly tried unsuccessfully three times to climb out but instead reality sat in, it took every ounce of her courage not to cry. She took a deep breath and yelled as loud as she could scream. ''Somebody, help me."

Frank got out of the van, surprised by the lack of noise coming from the Blaisdell home. Was it possible someone had gotten the wrong address? If there was a party going on inside, it was being thrown by a bunch of mimes.

He walked to the front door and knocked, waiting as Blake took his place beside him.

The door opened and 'Count Dracula' greeted them. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, we've had a few complaints about a wild party." Frank looked inside the home to see several people in costumes cleaning, dusting and vacuuming. If Frank wasn't seeing it for himself, he'd never have believed it. He pulled out his badge and identified himself. "Mind it we come in?"

The door opened further, allowing access as Frank entered the home. He looked at Blake, who only shrugged in confusion.

"I hope you're satisfied," Carolyn Blaisdell's angry voice came from the kitchen. "you've ruined my party."

"I can always call your dad. We could let him know what has been going on." A deep baritone voice responded. There seemed to be a little humor in the voice. "Where's the phone?"

"No, don't do that." Carolyn answered. Frank walked in the kitchen to find the teenager sweeping the floor and two other girls were washing and drying the dishes.

"What's going on?" Frank asked, looking around for the male voice he had just heard. Finding only the three teenager girls cleaning, Frank went to the kitchen door, opened it and looked outside. "Where did he go?"

Carolyn put the broom away, emptied the dust pan and tied up the garbage. "What man? There's nobody here but us."

"Uh huh, and I'm a regular on Pee-Wee's Place house." Frank declared. "Now do you want to tell me who it was I just heard?"

The kitchen door flew opened before Frank could get an answer. Peter rushed in, nearly colliding with the burly ex-marine.

Frank steadied the teenager, realizing something was amiss. Blaisdell's foster son was out of breath and nearing a state of panic.

"Easy, Peter," He tried to calm the young man down. Frank knew he wouldn't be able to get any information until he assured the boy of that fact. "I want you to take a deep breath and tell me what's happened."

"It's Kelly." Peter panted heavily, holding his side as he made his way over to the sink. His words started coming out too fast, but Frank managed to understand the terrified message Peter was saying, "She's lost in the woods. I couldn't find her. I don't know where she is. I..." Peter's lower lip trembled, "It's my fault. I never should have left her to go by herself." The hazel eyes looked up at him, pleading for understanding. "I didn't think anything would happen. I only let her out of my sight for a few minutes and then I heard her scream. I tried to find her but..."

"Shush� it's not your fault." Frank pulled the boy into his chest and held him. He could feel the tremors that rocked the teenager's body. "We're going to find her." Frank placed an arm around the teenagers shoulders. He guided the boy out of the kitchen door and back to the police van. "Do you think you're able to show us where you last saw her?"

Peter nodded his head, "Yeah, I think so."

Frank opened the door on the van's driver's side. Climbing up inside the vehicle, the boy looked around at the console and then back at him, his eyes wide with curiosity. "Where's the siren? How fast does this thing go? Don't you think you should call for backup?"

Frank stood there with his mouth hanging open. 'How fast can one kid talk?'

"Come on, time's a wasting." Peter yelled.

"Slide over, and don't you dare touch anything." Frank got behind the wheel and started the engine. "Blake, radio the precinct and tell them we have a missing person.

He shifted the car in reverse and was about to back up when Peter yelled, "Wait, Reggie's coming. He was the last person to see Kelly before she disappeared."

Blake and Frank exchanged looks before Blake got out of the vehicle and allowed Reggie to climb inside the van. The quiet detective closed the door after he re-entered the van.

The quick explanation of what had transpired drew Frank to conclusion the draft needed to be activated again. He took a quick glance at the older teenager while stopped at a stop sign. Some time served in boot camp would do wonders with that smart mouth.

Fearing for her sister's safety, Carolyn knew she had to obey Detective Strenlich's orders had been to stay by the phone in case Kelly or someone called about her whereabouts. Carolyn occupied her mind and time by walking from room to room surveying the house from any signs of broken furniture or traces that she had thrown a party.

Satisfied the house could pass inspection, Carolyn again dialed the parents of her little sister's friends, hoping they had heard something since the last time she had called.

Susan had stayed with her to keep her company. Her friend could only offer support and wishes that Kelly would be found safe and sound.

Peter covered his mouth to stifle a yawn that kept threatening to escape. He didn't dare let Strenlich hear him. The Detective had already made it loud and clear he didn't approve of Peter and Reggie being on the search team. As far as Frank was concerned, the teenagers were more a hindrance than a help.

Strenlich might consider him a child but Peter knew better. They were wasting valuable time traveling around in circles when they could be searching somewhere else. "Reg and I have already covered this area, Sir. If you'll just.."

Frank pushed a low branch out of his path, causing Peter to stop in mid-sentence and duck. The branch flew past his head and swished back and forth until he was hauled to his feet by the ex-marine. "Peter, I'm trained in these kind of searches. I know you're worried about Kelly but if you keep interrupting, it's only going to slow us down. Now let me do my job."

"But I'm trying to tell you...."

"That's it!" Frank yelled, causing everyone to stop and stand still. Nobody dared to move a muscle, even Peter had heard about Strenlich's famous temper and knew when to shut-up. Frank pointed his finger in the teenager's face. "If I hear one more word out of you or your friend, then you're both going back to the van and I'll have one of my men take you home. Understand?"

"YES!" Peter snapped, his anger getting the best of him. Frank made a threatening move in his direction and Peter relented. He tried to sound as sincere as possible. "Yes, sir. I understand."

Frank gave him a long stare, turned his back and continued to lead the group as if nothing had happened, which only made Peter angrier. He was only trying to help and nobody would listen to him.

He grabbed the same branch that Strenlich had shoved a few minutes ago and gave it a shove of his own. He heard it whisked by and ignored it until it snapped into something behind him.

"Ouch." Reggie yelped, painfully behind him. "Caine, if you're so dead set on killing me, how about letting me use the flash light? I can at least see what's coming before it hits me."

"Stop your griping, Reggie. Nobody dragged you out here." Peter held the flash light Strenlich had given him up to Reggie's face, watching as his friend blinked from the bright glare of the light. "Why don't you go home? There's nothing keeping you out here?"

"Look Peter, I feel bad enough without you turning on me too." His friend declared. "Why don't you just stick a kick-me sign on my back and go at it?"

"Blake, take them both back to the van and then call Jefferson to take them home." Frank shouted, stumping back in Peter's direction. Peter opened his mouth, but Strenlich never gave him a chance to say anything. "You say one word, Peter, I'll throw you over my shoulder and carry you back to the van myself."

Reggie moved out of Peter's path, allowing the big man to come in closer. Blake appeared and placed a hand on Peter's shoulder. "Come on, Peter. Let's get you home."

"No, wait," Peter said in his most pleading voice. He had another agenda in mind. If he hoped to pull it off, Peter knew he had to fool Frank and Blake into believing he was giving in to Strenlich's orders. He wasn't going to argue with them anymore. "Reggie and I can find our way back to the van. You need Detective Blake out here to help you continue the search."

"You're sure you can find your way back?" Blake asked him.

"Sure, come on, Reg." Peter slapped his friend's shoulder and the two went back in the direction they had already came. He walked for a good five minutes before he stopped and listened. "Okay, the coast is clear."

"What are you talking about?"

"We don't need them, Reg," Peter said, moving off in another direction. "I say, we can find Kelly ourselves."

Carolyn had bit her fingernails down to the quick waiting for the phone to ring. She nervously walked to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, hoping she could find something to nibble on which would take her mind off Kelly.

The phone mounted on the kitchen wall started ringing and Carolyn almost jumped out of her skin. She reached to answer it as Susan ran down the hallway to meet her.

She picked up the receiver and spoke. "Hello, Blaisdell residence."

"Carolyn," Annie's voice sounded happy. Carolyn closed her eyes. Her mother was the last person she wanted to talk to right now. She leaned against the wall, dreading to tell her parents what had happened. Carolyn didn't say a word, instead she listened to Annie describe her night out. "I'm sorry we called you so late but the concert went over and your father and I had a late dinner."

"Sounds like you had a great time, Mom."

"The best." Annie replied. "Is everyone all right? Did Peter take Kelly out like we told him to do?"

"Yeah, he took her out." Carolyn laughed nervously. It wasn't a lie. Thinking fast, she might be able to pull this off without letting her parents know the truth. Carolyn looked at Susan, who glanced back at her wide eyed, then shrugged. A lot of help she was. "In fact, Peter kept her out so late in order for Kelly to get a lots of candy that the Johnsons' never even knew Kelly was there."

"Good, I'm glad Kelly had a great time." Annie said. Carolyn gave a silent sigh of relief, things were going as planned until her mother asked, "Where's Peter? I want to talk to him."

"Peter?" Carolyn asked, putting her hand against the mouth piece of the phone as she glared at her friend. She harshly whispered, "What am I going to do? She wants to speak to Peter." Carolyn gritted her teeth when Susan just stood there looking at her without saying a word or offering a suggestion. Some friend Susan was. She never could think fast when the chips were down. "Help me!"

Susan bit a suddenly irritating fingernail and then grinned. She snapped her fingers. "Tell her, Peter's cleaning his room."

Carolyn glared at her like she was an idiot. What teenager cleans his room at midnight? Carolyn knew she had to think of something quick or her mother would get suspicious because she was taking too long to answer. She put the phone back up to her ear, "Uh Mom, Peter's in the shower. Can he call you back later?"

"No, that's all right. It wasn't all that important." Annie replied. Carolyn jumped up and down in happiness, satisfied she'd pulled off the biggest sting in history. Meryl Street could take acting lessons from her. "Carolyn, I'll let you go. Paul and I will be home tomorrow afternoon. You and Peter have a good night. We love you both. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Mom." Carolyn tried to keep the laughter out of her voice. One slip and Annie would catch on to her little trick. She'd made that mistake before and Carolyn wasn't about to repeat it. "We'll see you and Dad when you get home. Good-bye."

She hung up the phone and started dancing in circles. "I did it! I did it!" Carolyn grabbed Susan and the two jumped up in down the hallway until she remembered the real reason why she had to fool her mother in the first place.

She went back to keeping a vigil over the phone, waiting for it to ring again.

Peter stomped over several tall blades of grass, thankful he and Reggie had come to a clearing in the woods. He shined the light in front of him trying to figure out where he wanted to go next.

He was dead tired on his feet, determined to block it from his mind. There would be plenty of time to sleep later once he knew Kelly was safe. Peter closed his eyes for a moment, hoping it would give him time to catch his breath and a minute to relax.

Peter opened his eyes, disappointed that the relaxation he sought never came. Instead, his fear only intensified. He looked around again, using his flashlight to see. "Kelly? Kelly, answer me." His hoarse voice called out again in desperation.

"Peter?" A tiny voice rang out from a few feet off to his left. "I'm over here and I can't get out."

"Kelly, where are you?" Peter turned in the direction where he had heard his sister's voice. Reggie ran behind him as Peter pointed the flashlight at the ground and called out. "Kelly, keep talking. Tell me where you are."

"Here. I'm over here." Kelly's voice became louder. "I'm down here."

Peter took one step and before he knew it, he was falling. A hand grabbed him by his jacket and lifted him back up. He looked up and saw Reggie standing behind him. He swallowed, then shined the light down into the pit that he had been saved from falling into. "Thanks Reg, I owe you one."

"What are friends for?" his friend answered, dropping down by the edge of the pit. As Peter continued to shine the light into the pit, he heard Reggie's ecstatic voice. "There she is."

The light stopped and Peter lowered it to see his sister pressed up against the furthest side of the pit. Thinking she must have gotten scared when he almost fell in, he called down to reassure her if not for himself as well, "I'm here Kelly. We're going to get you out."

Kelly shivered as a cool breeze blew around her. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms trying to keep warm. She felt she had been standing in the same place for hours waiting for Reggie to lower her brother into the pit. She had tried several times to jump up high enough for Peter to grab her hand, hoping to pull her to safety, but each time had resulted in failure.

"Kelly, grab my hand." Peter urged her, "Come on, you can do it."

Kelly stretched as far as she could, grunting in a desperation attempt, praying that her stretching alone would make her taller. Standing on her toes, she inched closer, but still couldn't reach her brother's hand. Finally, she admitted in a discouraged tone, "I can't, Peter. You're too far away."

"Reggie, a little lower." Her brother yelled up to his friend. Peter wiggled his fingers. They glazed across Kelly's out stretched hand.

"You're as low as I can get you." Reggie replied, out of breath. "I can't hold on to you much longer or I'll going to lose my grip. I'm going to have to pull you up."

Hearing Reggie's breathless announcement, Kelly cried, "No! Please don't leave me down here alone. I scared." Kelly wailed in a sudden panic. It was getting colder and now fog was starting to roll in behind her unsuspecting brother and friend.

Convinced something was coming to get her, Kelly backed into the side of the pit and sat down, rocking herself as tears starting rolling down her cheeks. "I want to go home."

"Kelly, don't cry. We're going to get you out. I'm not going to leave you." Peter yelled, breaking her session of self pity.

She looked up, if her brother wasn't going to leave until she was safe then Kelly was just as determined to remain brave until she was rescued. She got back to her feet and moved back where she had originally stood.

Peter inched closer, Kelly jumped as high as she could and her brother grabbed her hand with both of his. "I got her Reg, pull us up."

Kelly thought she heard a gun being fired. She looked up, the sky seemed to light up in an eerie glow of red and just as quickly it was gone. Someone must have shot off a flare gun, but who?

Reggie grunted twice, dirt started falling down around Peter and Kelly as they were being pulled upwards. "I can't hold you." He screamed, "The extra weight, brace yourself."

Kelly felt herself falling, she never had a chance to scream before their fall was stopped. She glanced up, surprised they hadn't fallen. Peter had his eyes squinted tight. He must had thought they were going to fall as well. She whispered his name. "Peter?"

Her brother opened his eyes. He looked as surprised as she was. "It's going to be all right, Kelly. We're almost at the top."

Kelly didn't know if she should cry, laugh or jump for joy when she was pulled out of the pit. Instead, she glanced at her brother. Peter was on his knees reaching out for her. She fell into her brother's arms and cried. They were safe. She was safe.

Peter rocked her, assuring her that everything was going to be all right. She wanted to thank him but Kelly couldn't manage more than a few simple words. She just enjoyed the comfort of allowing her brother to hold her.

"Thanks, Reg." Peter sighed deeply. He tightened his embrace around his sister. Kelly felt herself getting drowsy. She let out a yawn, listening to her brother's voice as he thanked their rescuer. "I thought we were going to fall. I'm glad you got your second wind."

"I wasn't me." Reggie admitted, getting Kelly's attention. She turned her head slightly so she could see the older boy. He looked at her and then at Peter. "Some guy came out of nowhere and grabbed your legs the second I let go. If it hadn't been for him," his voice trailed off, glancing back behind him. "I don't know what would've happened."

"What?" Peter and Kelly said at the same time. If it wasn't Reggie who had pulled them out of the pit, then who was it. Hearing her brother sighing, she looked up at him.

"Reggie, cut the crap!" Peter released his hold on his sister and Kelly slowly got to her feet. "You're not going to get into trouble over this."

"I don't care if I get into trouble or not, Caine," Reggie said with irritation in his voice. He picked up the flashlight that had been tossed to the side of the pit, pointing it behind him. He huffed in disgust as he turned back around. "I'm telling you there was a man wearing sunglasses that came out of the woods and grabbed you. He was the one who pulled you up. It wasn't me."

"A guy wearing sunglasses? In the dark?" Peter asked, laughing out loud. Kelly started laughing with him. Even she found that lie hard to believe. A mask man, that she could believe, but a man wearing sunglasses?

Peter put his arm around her shoulders, leading her away from the pit. "Let's get you home, Kelly, before Reggie starts seeing Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker out here."

"I'm not kidding, man," Reggie chased after them, pleading for someone to believe him. "The guy was wearing sunglasses."

Kelly was about to ask who had shot the flare gun but she heard someone yelling Peter's name. She stopped, waiting as Peter pulled her closer.

A group of people were running in their direction. Reggie moved in front of Kelly as the group came nearer. She heard a familiar voice and knew it was Frank Strenlich.

"I don't know if I should be happy or mad." Strenlich said, standing in front of the two boys. He looked down at Kelly and picked her up. "How are you doing, honey?"

"I'm okay." She announced, looking down at her brother. "Peter found me."

"That's all fine and good, but who took the flare gun out of the van and shot it?" Frank wanted to know. He lowered Kelly back to her feet. "Well?"

"I didn't." Reggie answered.

"Whoever did, we have them to thank or we would've never found you." Frank admitted. He turned to one of the other men. "I hope someone remembered to bring the blankets. The last thing we need is for these kids to catch cold."

Kelly giggled. Peter considered himself a grown-up. It was funny when a real grown up told him he was just a kid.

"Can we take Kelly home?" Peter asked, annoyed. "I'm sure she's tired. It's past her bedtime."

Carolyn opened the front door the second she saw the police van pull into the driveway. The precinct had called her earlier to let her know they had found Kelly.

Peter climbed out of the van, pulling Kelly out with him. He took her hand and together they walked into the house. Both were covered in dirt, but appeared to be unharmed. Carolyn, for the first time since the ordeal began, allowed herself to relax.

They walked into the family room where Susan was watching MTV and eating popcorn.

"I'm going to take a bath and then I'm going to bed." Kelly announced, leaving the room to the three teenagers. She stuck her head back inside, "I lost all my Halloween candy."

"Julie has one of your bags at her house. I'll get it in the morning." Peter said, taking the bowl out of Susan's hands. "I don't know where you dropped the other bag."

"It doesn't matter. Thanks anyway, Peter." Kelly yawned, covering her mouth as she did. Her eyes flew opened. "You're not going to tell anyone that I got lost, are you?"

"If you don't say anything to Mom and Dad, then we won't." Carolyn answered, surprised that Kelly would feel responsible for getting lost. She wasn't going to tempt fate by telling Kelly it wasn't her fault. With the family tattletale out of her way, Carolyn didn't see any reason why her parents had to know the truth. "Kelly, you better hurry and get to bed. It's already after one."

"I'm going." Kelly said, leaving the room. "Goodnight everyone."

"Night." Carolyn said, listening as Kelly went up the stairs. She waited until she could hear water running in their bathroom before she would speak. "I called the Johnsons' a few hours ago and told them that Kelly decided to stay home tonight, so that's covered. Mom and Dad won't be any wiser."

She spent the next fifteen minutes trying to convince her brother but as usual Peter always believed they couldn't get away with anything. "They're not stupid, Carolyn. They're going to find out eventually. Why don't we come clean and just tell them I lost Kelly."

"Why? She's safe and no harm came to her." Carolyn glared at him. Another idea came to mind. She'd already made sure Kelly wouldn't squeal on them, now she had to make sure Peter didn't give them away with his 'I can't lie to you' face. Time to change strategies. "Tell you what, just don't tell them anything."

"I won't say anything," Peter said, heading out of the room. Carolyn smiled to herself. She should write a book. Her brother stopped in the hallway and turned around, "but if they ask, I'm not lying."

Carolyn watched him leave. "Why am I not surprised?"

Monday morning came early for Strenlich. It seemed like only a few hours ago he had spent Halloween night hauling in nuts and searching for Kelly Blaisdell.

He was pouring himself a cup of coffee when Blaisdell came in. The Captain picked up his messages and started towards his office when he saw Frank standing by the coffee pot.

"Frank, you got a minute?" Paul asked, opening his office door and looking back at him. "I need to see you about something."

Frank grabbed another mug and filled it. He entered the small office and placed both mugs on the desk before closing the door behind me. "What's up?"

Paul removed his coat, hung it up on the coat rack and sat on the edge of the desk. "You know I wanted you to take the job as Chief of Detectives. Well, it seems Dan's changed his mind and doesn't want the transfer after all."

Frank sighed, watching as Blaisdell picked up one of the coffee mugs. The Captain looked at him, compassion and regret in Paul's eyes made Strenlich feel a little better. "You just keep me in mind when that position becomes available again, Captain."

Paul took a sip of coffee and made a face. "I should have waited until Annie made some coffee at the house but she was still asleep when I left. I didn't want to wake her."

"I take it, you two enjoyed yourselves?"

"Oh yeah, we had a wonderful trip." Paul told Frank about the mini vacation he and Annie had taken as he drained the coffee mug. "We didn't get home until late evening yesterday. Annie was wore out." He pulled out his chair, sat down and laughed. "We were pleasantly surprised to find the house still standing."

"I don't know what you're complaining about, I've got three of my own at home, all girls. Which means, I've got to ride shotgun over who and what they date." Frank said, dropping into a chair in front of the desk. "Is it too late to ask for a transfer to SWAT?"

"It's not that bad, Frank."

"Famous last words?" Strenlich challenged. He leaned up and grabbed the other coffee mug. Taking a sip, he blinked as he managed to swallowed down the so-called brew. "Kelly doing all right?"

"Kelly?" Paul looked up, confusion on his face. "Why shouldn't Kelly be all right?"

"Well, she did spend most of Halloween night in a pit, Captain. I thought she might have been a little sore."

"What?" Paul stared back at him. "What pit? What are you talking about Frank?"

"Uh, well..." Frank was at a loss for words. He thought Blaisdell would have already been told what happened by his own kids. He didn't like playing the bad guy. It wasn't his business, let the old man find out the truth from someone else. He got up to leave. "I've got work to do."

"You want to run that by me again."

Frank sighed, "Peter and Kelly got separated and apparently Kelly got lost. We were at the house when Peter ran home to tell us what happened."

Paul took off his glasses. "Why were you at the house, Frank?"

"Look Captain, I think you need to talk to your kids. It's not my place to say anything." He left the office without waiting for a dismissal. Maybe it was time to put in for a vacation.

Frank leaned against the glass door, he heard Blaisdell making a phone call, no doubt to Annie. He listened long enough to hear the old man telling his wife about Kelly.

Strenlich smiled to himself as he headed back to his own desk. He wouldn't want to be in those three kids places for all the gold in Fort Knox. Picking up a doughnut, he stuck it in his mouth and started typing up a long over due report.