Rolling in the dirt, she could see the red taillights of the vehicle disappear over the edge and plummet down into the dense vegetation below. A few seconds later, they heard a loud crash at the bottom of the cliff. Both Eddie and Ness walked to the cliff’s edge and peered over. They couldn’t see anything in the darkness below.
“Hopefully that goes undiscovered for a few days,” Ness said. “It ought to. Well done, grasshopper. You’ve done well,” Eddie smiled and tossed her the car keys. “Let’s head back. You’ve got to move it if you want to make it back before your dad wakes up.”
They arrived back at Eddie’s place a little before 5:00 A.M., and before Eddie climbed out of the vehicle, he pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. He handed it to Ness.
“What’s this?” Ness asked.
“Your next assignment. This is the license plate of one of the three men that approached you in my bar the other night. Word on the street is that they brutally attacked and raped a 14-year-old girl after they left the bar when she was returning from the store for her sick mother. The police don’t have anything to charge them yet. Find out what you can about them and come back here on Sunday—that gives you two days. We’ll continue then,” Eddie climbed out the car and started to walk to the house.
“Hey, Eddie!” Ness called out which made him turn around.
“King’s pawn to e6 is my move for the game inside.”
“Why to e6?”
“The French Defense is my preferred opening for when I play black,” Ness smiled and drove away. Eddie crossed his arms over his chest and smiled, “No . . . I most certainly haven’t overestimated you, Vanessa Elliott.”
8
Ness pulled into the driveway a little after six. She drove slightly faster on the freeway than she normally does because she needed to ensure that she got home before her father realized that she didn’t come home last night. She exited her vehicle and headed straight for the back door. She peered in through the window, and she could see that the coffee pot wasn’t on yet. Close call, Ness, she thought to herself.
Ness unlocked the kitchen door and walked inside. She could hear the water running upstairs, so she figured that her dad had already made it to the shower. I didn’t close my door yesterday. He would have seen my bed was still made when he walked past my room, she thought. Ness walked up to the coffee pot and started adding in the ingredients to have it ready for her dad when he came downstairs. She could hear the water turn off upstairs, so he'd be down in a few minutes. Ness waited for the coffee to brew and then poured the coffee into the mugs that she grabbed from the cupboard.
“Morning, Ness,” Heck said as he walked into the kitchen. “Did you come home last night? I didn’t hear you come in.”
“I did but it was pretty late and you were already asleep.”
Heck nodded. “Everything okay?” he asked. “Yep, just pretty tired. Went for a long drive. I made you some coffee,” Ness said, handing his mug to him. “Thanks! You’re a lifesaver. Would you mind if I poured this into my travel mug? I want to get to the station a bit earlier this morning.”
Ness grabbed his travel mug for him from the cupboard behind her, and Heck transferred the steaming hot coffee. “You’re a doll. See you later,” Heck said and headed for the door. “Hey, Dad. Wyatt actually offered me to spend a few days with him and Lindsay. Are you going to be alright here on your own?”
“I’m a big boy, Ness. Thanks for the concern though,” he smiled, grabbed his keys, sidearm, handcuffs, and left the house.
Ness could hear the old Land Rover start up and drive down the street. She took a few sips of her coffee and suddenly felt ravenous. She hadn’t eaten since she had a few bites of her sandwich at Eddie’s, and after the strenuous night, she craved food. Ness walked to the fridge and grabbed a couple of eggs and two slices of bread. She heated up some oil in a pan and cracked the eggs in. As she watched them fry, she let her mind wander. She knew that leaving her dad alone wasn’t the most prudent of ideas, but the technology in the house was practically archaic. Ness knew that Wyatt had direct access to the police database from his house, and she would be able to get all the information from there if she could crack the password.
“Ouch!” Ness pulled her hand away from the pan as hot oil sputtered and a few droplets burned her fingers. Ness walked to the faucet and ran cold water over the droplet burns. Once the sting was reduced, she walked to the toaster and dropped in her slices of bread. Once the bread was toasted and
