"All right," Dan said putting his suitcase in the trunk. He then turned to George. "Take care for your brother and sister you hear?"
"I know Dad," George said, taking Theresa from his step-mother. "I'll talk to you soon."
Before getting into the car, Dan gave Jason a big hug. "You have a great birthday party Jay Jay. I'll call you from New York."
"Okay Dad," Jason said, relucatantly letting go of his father's neck. "Thanks for a great day."
"You're most welcome," Dan said getting into the passenger seat of his car.
With a final wave to his children, Nancy pulled out of the driveway.
They were both silent, until they were quite a distance from their house. It was then that Nancy asked her husband a question that was plaguing her all day.
"How dangerous is this case Dan?" Nancy asked, keeping her eyes fixed on the road ahead.
"What do you mean?"
"I want to know if you are going to be chasing some crazy serial killer around the vial streets of New York City, if I should be more worried about you then usual."
"I don't know. Michael doesn't even know what kind of problem his nephew has. All I know is I'm headed to New York City because Michael's nephew can't make head nor tail of a problem."
"That's nice," Nancy said bitterly. "It's nice he doesn't give you any information."
"Sweetheart," Dan said soothingly. "There's no need to worry. I've been a detective for ten years. I know how to take care of myself. You don't have to worry about my safety."
Nancy nodded and said no more until they were in front of Scotland Yard.
"I love you Daniel," Nancy said giving her husband a kiss.
"It's mutual," Dan said taking his suitcase out of his car.
He stood on the steps of the brick building until he could no longer see his wife's car. Then he went inside.
CHAPTER 3 NEW YORK
Thirty minutes later, Daniel Simpson found himself standing in London Gatwick Airport waiting for his flight. When he boarded the plane, he fell into a fitful sleep until they landed six hours later.
Dan was slightly taken aback by the bustle of JFK International Airport. The mass of people rushing about shocked him. When he retrieved his bag, he went outside in attempt to get a cab to take him to his destination.
Finally after about the fifth try, Dan was seated comfortably in a yellow taxi cab.
"Where you want to go?" The cabbie asked, his voice held a thick accent that Dan could not identify.
Dan quickly gave him the address.
"You a police mon?" The cabbie asked, swerving around several cars in attempt to leave his parking spot.
Dan nodded. "I'm an Inspector from Scotland Yard."
"You 'ere on busniess or 'ere for pleasure?"
"Strictly busniess," Dan replied. He secretly wished the cab driver would stop talking so he could concentrate on memorizing the street names.
The cabbie saw what Dan was trying to do from the rearview mirror. "Broder, you aint never gonna memorize all dem street names."
Dan smiled. "I'm going to try anyway."
The cabbie shrugged. "Don't say I didn't warn ya broder. You aint gonna do it."
Dan said nothing and they went the rest of the way in silence.
Twenty minutes later, Dan was standing outside of the NYPD office. Suitcase in hand, Dan entered the old brownstone building.
"Excuse me," Dan said to a heavyset man with greasy brown hair. "Is Mr. Erik Davidson in?"
"Who wants to know?" The man asked, not looking up from his computer.
"I do," Dan said reaching into his coat pocket for his badge. "Inspector Daniel Simpson of Scotland Yard."
"Lemme see if he's in," the man said pushing the intercom button on his desk.
"Yeah?"
"Hey Erik, you expectin' a man named..." The heavyset man looked up at Dan for the first time. "What's your name again?"
"Daniel Simpson, of Scotland Yard."
"Daniel Simpson, from Scotland Yard?"
There was a silence for a few moments. Then the strong voice, with a heavy Brooklyn accent replied. "Yeah Vince, could ya show him up?"
The heavy set man, named Vince, got out of his chair with a tremendous amount of effort. He led Dan down a long corridor with off white walls. They stopped in front of a dark brown door and Vince knocked.
"Come in!"
Vince opened the door and Daniel Simpson was face to face with Erik Davidson.
He was shocked by his appearence. His face could have been chisled from stone, that's how sharp and delicate his features were. Two bright emerald green eyes stared at Dan from underneath finely shaped black eyebrows. His jet black hair was carefully combed to the side, but a shock of it fell on his forehead giving him a fierce and wild expression. He was extremely tall and his muscles could be seen underneath his tight fittin police shirt.
"Inspector Daniel Simpson," Erik said extending a hand.
"Pleased to meet you Mr. Davidson," Dan said with a small smile.
"Call me Erik," he said, motioning for Vince to leave.
When they were alone, Erik resumed his chair. "Take a load off."
After a moment of thought, Dan realized what the young man meant and sat down opposite him.
"I'll never get use to you American expressions."
Erik shot Dan a smile, revealing perfect white teeth. "They aint that hard to get use ta. But, you're probably tired so I won't keep you here all night. Did my uncle tell you anything?"
"The only thing he said was you recieved a telephone call that unnerved you," Dan replied.
"Let me give it to you straight. Last night, I got a call from my sister's best friend, Sarah Anderson. She called me up, completely distraught and frightened. She said she thought she was being stalked, because whenever she's alone, she hears a voice calling her name."
Dan raised his eyebrows at this but said nothing.
Erik said Dan's expression and grinned. "I know what you're thinking. I thought she was crazy too, but as a favor to my sister, I went over to her house when I got off of work, which was about ten o'clock last night. When I got out of my car, I saw a man standing in the shadows peering into Sarah's window. Of course, I shouted and the man ran. I gave chase for a few minutes but lost him. I then returned to the spot where he was standing, to see the footprints he left, embedded in the snow. But I got the shock of my life. There were no footprints anywhere, and it looked as though the snow wasn't disturbed."
"What about when you chased him?"
"The only footprints in the snow were mine," Erik said. "Do you think you can help me out Danny?"
Daniel Simpson closed his eyes. "I'll try Erik. I'll try."
MORE TO COME. WILL ERIK AND DAN DISCOVER WHAT KIND OF CREATURE CAN STAND IN SNOW AND NOT LEAVE FOOTPRINTS BEHIND? COME BACK TOMORROW AND FIND OUT!