Under the Microscope

Chapter 11

"Is this investigator's name Hector Dillinger?" smiled Zach.

"If it was me, Zach," said Crawford, "I would not be here with you right now and your life would be in grave danger. I don't know who it is, they didn't tell me that much and we've got too much on our plates to deal with that right now. The right people are dealing with it and if it comes to the point that it affects our mission here, then we'll get involved. But not before."

"I wish Alice was here to tell you to stop talking about yourself." said Zach. So do I. "Where is she, anyway?"

"Well, what happened to you last night is the maincause of her absence right now." said Crawford, "I'll tell you more later, butwhatever it was, it was no excuse for abandoning you last night. I've been watching you every second of every day since I started this assignment, I started taking things for granted. I let my guard down for one day and this is what happened."

"Are you going to show the cops this," said Zach, "or are you too worried about compromising your position."

"No," said Crawford, "I know I've been a realpain in the ass when it comes to that stuff but this is serious.    

"I honestly don't think Kimberly's going to be an issue anymore." said Zach.

"What," said Crawford, "because of what happened on Christmas?" Zach nodded.

"She actually apologized for that, sort of. Through email.," said Zach, unconvinced. "But I don't think I can ever look at her the same way again."

"Then maybe you should talk to her again," said Crawford, "maybe by telling her, it'll knock her back to reality and realize you're both human and that you're the one for her all along."

"No offense, Max," said Zach, "but I think you might be the last person I'd go to for relationship advice. This girl is so happy and full of life, so beautiful, but she's also a real drama queen. She doesn't realize how amazing she is, she thinks that one boy is the missing puzzle piece to her life. If I'd tell her, it would just be more of an excuse for her to pretend like she doesn't love me."

"That's not true, is it?" said Crawford, "You still love her don't you?"

"More than anything, Max," said Zach, "which makes my decision even harder. I still may her, but she threw my love for her in my face. She may not have meant it but she can't expect me to forget everything she said to me. As much as I love her, Max, I can't let her decide that she can abuse me like I don't matter and then make everything better by a simple apology. I won't do it, Max."

"Its up to you, Zach," said Crawford, "I'm just giving you the heads up, things like this can come back to biting you in the ass in the worst possible ways. Scott already knows. Not from me, from the police. They called him while he was in Canada. He left there as soon as he heard. But it would be the right thing to tell him yourself."

"I will." said Zach.

"Just so you know, I may seem like a social misfit when it comes to women," said Crawford, "but the reason I couldn't make it over to you last night, was because I was also engaged in a life altering experience. I slept with Alice."

"Whoa! Thats huge!" Zach exclaimed, completely gone, at least temporarily, was his gloomy expression, Zacharia started barking again. "Wow, how did that happen?! I've been waiting for you guys to hit it off!" Zach jumped for joy, slapping Crawford five, which startled the chickens.

"I knew you'd be happy about this," said Crawford, "however, Alice was calling it a mistake and was only using me as rebound when she found out that Topher was not only sleeping with Wanda but may even love each other. I mean not as much as Wanda loves you apparently. Anyhow, I also blamed her for what happened to you and on top of that, Fred Nichols is nowhere to be seen. Its like he just disappeared. She left without saying where she was going when or if she's coming back. I called General Sanders, he doesn't seem to know where she is either but told me to continue with this operation and that I, obviously, have to take charge."