LITMIR.BIZ

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pulled a very worn skateboard out of a corner. It had a strap attached to it and he slung it across his back. Then he walked off down the beach and came back with a red bicycle that looked like it had been made for a ten year old kid.

      “Want a ride home?” Rusty asked.

      Cody looked me up and down.

      “Sure. I usually bike home to make a few social calls but I guess I can use a lift today. So,” he said turning to me, “what do you do in the woods that you need camouflage for?”

      “Thanks to Rusty, I’ve kind of become Joshua Hills’ official tracker.”

      “What? You mean like Chase Downing does? You’re kidding.”

      “Chase was the tracking teacher at academy. He didn’t teach me much. He seemed to know what he was talking about though. I’m sure the rest of the class learned a lot more.”

      “Chase is an interesting guy. I go surfing with him sometimes. He walks the beach and tells me what the people did as he walks along, describes them to me, it’s like watching people without them knowing.”

      “Rusty hates it when I do that. I was nice today. I don’t think I did that once, out loud.”

      “Nope,” Rusty said, “you showed good self control. Notice anything I should be aware of? Any drug dealers making a hand off? Any potential purse snatchers or carjackers lurking in the parking lot?”

      “I’ve been trying to remain oblivious to all that. I just wanted to enjoy the day.”

      “That’s my girl,” Rusty said, then turning to Cody he continued, “Cassidy tends to see things that other people don’t. She’s somehow tuned in to odd behavior. She spots crimes before they happen, reads tracks and knows more about the people than if I had met them and talked to them myself. I don’t know how she does it.”

      “So, if there was a troublemaker in a crowd you could spot them?”

      “I’m not going to say I could for sure. I wouldn’t just do it to point fingers at people. What if I were wrong? But I have spotted odd behavior and been right a lot.”

      “Well, what about this crowd. I happen to know that there is one troublemaker in this crowd. Can you see who it is?”

      I studied the people around me and ruled out all the families, all the older couples, all the little kids. Of course any of them could have been the one but I didn’t think so. There were bike riders out for exercise; nope, not them. There were roller bladers and skate boarders. I was looking for someone with nothing better to do than get into trouble. My attention kept coming back to one older boy on roller blades who glanced at every tote bag and purse he skated past. He was followed by two other boys who were watching and waiting for him to try something.

      “The boy in the green t-shirt, tan shorts and roller blades,” I said, “he skates by open purses and tote bags and pulls things out that look interesting.”

      “Bingo,” said Cody.

      “You figured that out in five minutes observing a crowd of people?” Rusty asked.

      “I can see him doing it. It isn’t hard to guess when people are openly looking for something to steal. They stand out to me. How do you think I spotted that bank robber? Let’s get out of here before the kid steals something and you have to run him down.”

      “That kid gets caught every other day,” Cody said.

      “Are you ready to go?” Rusty asked us both.

      “After we get to the truck can you give me five minutes? I don’t want to meet your parents in a wet swimsuit.”

      I opened the back of the Explorer and found my shorts and t-shirt. I looked in the suitcase for a hairbrush, found it, and then trotted off to the restrooms to change and freshen up a little. Looking in the mirror I was glad I’d spent so much time outdoors. The sunburn wasn’t too bad. I dried my hair with the hand dryers and then brushed and shaped it a little. I really needed to wash and dry my hair properly but there was no time for that. Well, they’d just have to take me for who I am. I changed clothes quickly, avoiding the sandy puddles on the floor and in five minutes I was back.

      “Okay,” said Cody, “she’s a keeper. Any girl who says five minutes and keeps her promise is a keeper. I always figure a half hour for every five minutes they ask for.”

      “Look out everybody!” Cody announced as he busted in through the door of a two story Cape Cod beach house three miles from the ocean. “Rusty brought a girl home!” He carried his bike up the stairs, disappeared into a cluttered room and dropped the bike and skateboard.

      “We don’t go much on formalities here,” Rusty explained.

      Rusty’s mom appeared from behind the stairs. “Rusty! What are you doing here? You didn’t tell us you were coming. And what’s this I hear?”

      “Mom,” Rusty said giving his mother a big hug, “this is Cassidy.”

      “Oh my,” she said when she saw me. “It really is you. We were so afraid we would never get to meet you. We caught the news program by chance and recognized Rusty in some of the shots so we started recording the news. When they aired the story about your engagement we were stunned. We didn’t know.”

      “Nobody really knew. We knew we wanted to get married last fall but decided to wait until I finished academy to announce our engagement. That was in January and then I started work with the search and rescue team. It’s only been recently that we have had a chance to make any wedding plans.”

      “Well, we taped it all. If you’d like to see…”

      “Mom, we came here so we could forget it. We need to just clear our heads while we’re here. Cassidy has had one tough track after another and I just got her back out of the mine. I don’t want to watch her be lost to me again. We just need a couple of days to regroup.”

      “Well, regrouping is our specialty. Your dad will be home in an hour or so and dinner will be ready shortly after that.”

      “Can we have the attic?”

      “I don’t know if you want the attic. Cody has been having friends over at all hours of the day and night.”

      “I’ll talk to Cody.”

      Rusty took the suitcase and started up the narrow stairway. At the landing he knocked loudly on the first door he came too. Loud rock music blared out as the door was opened.

      “I’m taking the attic over for two days.”

      “But…”

      “It’s just two days. You’ll survive.”

      “Hold on…” Cody dashed down the hall and up a set of pull-down stairs at the end. We heard scuffling, bumps, furniture being moved around and the sound of bare feet coming back down the stairs. Cody reappeared carrying a pile of clothes and assorted odds and ends, then disappeared back into his room.

      Rusty carried the suitcase to the pull-down stairs and then clunked up to the top. The attic was a long narrow room that ran the length of the house from front to back. Double doors overlooked the backyard. The floor under the lowest part of the roof was lined with odds and ends. There were a couple of mattresses, board games, beanbag chairs and low coffee tables. A small TV was hooked to an electronic game system and there were bookcases filled with paperbacks in every imaginable genre along with Nerf balls and piles of bedding. The center of the room was dominated by an ornate pool table. The floor had plush carpeting to cut down on noise and the finished undersides of the roof were lined with posters of young people doing adventurous stunts: surfing, motorcycle racing, skateboarding, freestyle skiing and more. Rusty opened double doors that led out onto a balcony and dragged a mattress to the doorway. Then he went to the pile of bedding and found several comforters and put them on top of the bare mattress.

      “It’s not a posh hotel but I’ve found it’s one of the most

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