The Thief and the Globetrotter

Chapter Eight: The Phone Call

His hands were preoccupied, dicing chicken for the first proper meal he'd had in too long. All the private detective work hadn't left eating or training or anything else a priority.

All that could end. He could go back to living a reasonably average life, aside from the occasional break-in. The thought left him in good spirits.

There was time to cook and enjoy the nice weather, maybe ride down the trails in the park and enjoy his newly reclaimed position as a less-likely-to-be-arrested man.

His phone vibrated on the counter and Baz quickly wiped a hand off to answer Jasper's call.

"Hello, Jasper!" Even talking to Jasper wasn't a totally unpleasant event.

"Have you seen the news?" Jasper said coldly.

Well, there was a good chance that Channel 6 wasn't leading the news hour with the announcement of Rei Collingwood's reappearance when Jasper said it like that.

"I don't have a TV," Baz said. Hadn't they had an alarmingly similar conversation already? Hadn't Baz already not liked it?

"Gwen Ferrero, Baz? Really?" Jasper growled.

Baz froze over his chicken. He rinsed off his hands, hurriedly putting Jasper on speakerphone so he could search. Keyword: Gwen Ferrero. Most recent.

He popped up immediately. The dress socks and fresh haircut gave him away. Gwen, of course, had the kind of curvy silhouette you could pick out of a police lineup. It was just outside the theatre. A moment after the photo, Gwen hailed a cab and left him. In fact, one tabloid site featured the lonely after-photo of Baz wiping the lipstick off his mouth.

"Well?" Jasper said in the tone of voice Baz remembered his dad using. What do you have to say for yourself was the silent follower of that particular 'well.'

"She knows Rei. She was a good lead," Baz protested. It was a good thing he didn't plan on getting pegged for Rei's not-kidnapping. He had little chance of successfully standing trial if he continued arguing like that. "All that is unimportant now because I have some excellent news."

He could go back to living a reasonably average life. Gwen could be a thing of the past, where she wouldn't stir up the terrible mixed feelings in him.

"Do share," Jasper drawled on the other end of the line. He couldn't be bothered to even pretend to be interested. It was almost like he expected Baz to fail. Baz consciously chose not to be offended.

"I don't think Rei was kidnapped," Baz said, tossing his diced chicken into a frying pan.

He imagined Jasper sitting up straight wherever he was. Did Jasper materialize in places other than the back of a black sedan? Baz didn't care. He never wanted to find out who Jasper was besides the guy who handed him cash and took stolen goods off his hands.

"What makes you say that?" Jasper said. His tone was off.

"I got back into her penthouse. No passport, no ID, no purse. No suitcases," Baz explained. He adjusted the phone. Happiness was too much to ask of Jasper, but he just sounded uncomfortable. The silences hung too long and heavy between them.

"How did you get back to her penthouse?" Jasper asked. Kind of a stupid question to ask a burglar.

"Does it matter?" Baz asked. "If she wasn't kidnapped, there's no reason for them to look for a kidnapper. The police ought to figure that out pretty fast if I could."

Jasper said nothing, which was more unnerving than if he did have something to say.

Finally: "Meet me at the northwest corner of Faraday Park at two."