Cliffhanger Theater!

Detective Will Hetfield was frustrated. His brain just wasn’t built for text messaging. He wanted to make sure Tina was getting enough sleep, but nothing looked right. The sound of someone walking on the sidewalk didn’t distract him, nor did the sound of someone eating a pop tart.

“Fighting a losing battle with your cell phone?”

Will looked to his right. Agent Iron-Horse was munching on one of the pop tarts he’d given him before they both left for the crime scene. “I thought you only ate organic?”

“I haven’t had a pop tart since grade school. Thanks for reminding me why.”

“Let me guess, you want kashi next time?”

“Who are you texting?” Clayton asked, as he took another bite.

“I thought I’d send Tina a text, to make sure she got home okay. She probably had a rough night. I don’t want to call her and wake her, in case she’s asleep.”

“Are you talking about officer Vig?”

Will started pressing the back button again. “Yeah, officer Vig. What did I say?”

“Tina.”

“Er, yeah. Officer Tina Vig.” Will started typing a simple ‘are you okay’ message.

“You can drop the act Will. The F.B.I. doesn’t care if you fraternize within the force.” Will erased the message again. Clayton stared at his pop tart with some confusion. “How did marshmallows and chocolate ever qualify as a breakfast item?” Will began typing again, this time saying ‘hope you are getting rest, see you later’. Clayton kept talking. “It wouldn’t kill you to try some whole grain cereals. Maybe even something like Wheaties or Shredded Wheat.” Will started erasing the message again. He started retyping it, this time trying ‘call me later hope you are well today’. Clayton stared at will for a few seconds, then said “By the way, we found this Jer fellow. it turns out he rode a dinosaur to Canada to attack a clan of vampires.” Will erased his text once again, and had the words ‘hey there’ done when Clayton snatched the phone from his grasp.

“Hey!” Will exclaimed.

“You’re got it bad. Have you tried telling her how you feel?”

“Excuse me?”

“Your non-reaction to my dinosaur versus vampire comment tells me you’d rather focus on Tina than the case at hand.” Clayton held the phone by his head as he finished his pop tart.

Will looked confused for a moment. “Dinosaur vampires? Huh?”

Clayton shook his head and tossed the phone back to him. “I’ll tell you all about it once I check this crime scene.” Clayton started walking towards the house. Will closed his phone and walked toward the house as well.

***

Geoff Pryblinski stared at Jeremiah, who stared right back at him. Jebediah kept his gaze on Frank Richmond, who looked around nervously for someone in airport security.

“Let’s try this again.” Jeremiah said.

“Let’s not.” Geoff shot back.

“Sooner or later, Mr. Richmond will have to answer our questions.”

“Mr. Richmond” Geoff said as he turned to Frank, “You don’t have to answer anything these two have to ask.”

“Maybe we won’t ask, but Mr. Richmond will be asked. Do you really think there won’t be somebody waiting in Vegas for him?”

Frank suddenly looked very nervous. Jebediah had his eyes locked on him, and his stare was burning holes in Frank’s last bits of confidence. Frank’s nerves were getting to him. He felt all he knew bubbling inside his gut, trying to get out. His reserve was like a dam, holding back his panic and knowledge.

Jebediah’s face twitched.

Frank’s dam was breaking.