My Brothers Best Friend

16

*Piper*

"Luca! Give back the remote!"

"What's the code word?" he asked very innocently.

"Don't get that remote back soon, because I want to watch something."

"Wrong."

"Don't get that remote back or I'll kick you in the..."

"Painful and wrong."

"Please?" I begged. I blinked and pouted my lip. Luca just grinned, but shook his head.

"All right then." I sighed. I leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips.

"Was that so difficult now?" He said. I growled and took the remote from his hands. I quickly put on 'say yes to the dress'. I was really addicted to that program.

"Come on, you love my codeword game." Luca smiled smugly. I curled up close to him and pulled a blanket over my body. Luca put an arm around me and we watched television together. After a while Luca got bored. He gently tugged at my hair.

"Luca, ouch, go irritate someone else." Luca looked like a little kid at times.

"Not going. The boys are out." I picked up the remote again and turned off the television.

"What do you want to do?" I asked him as I sat up straight.

"I just want to cuddle." He held his arms open for me and I jumped right in. He closed his arms and inhaled my scent.

"How long can we cuddle?" He asked.

"Ella will be here in five minutes." Luca sighed.

"Then already?" Suddenly the doorbell rang.

"Already?" he whined again. I stood up laughing and threw my blanket on the floor. I opened the front door and there was Ella standing in the doorway with three bags of crisps.

"Hey girl, and Luca." She said. Luca muttered something and lay down on the couch. I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and then went to my room with Ella. We plopped down on my bed and opened the first bag of chips.

"Okay, tell me! What did you discover." Ella said as she gulped down a handful of chips.

"Okay." I started. "Remember when we went shopping three days ago? When Jason suddenly called me and told me to come home?" Ella nodded.

"It was fine all day, but when I sent this photo it went crazy." I opened the photo on my mobile and handed it to Ella.

"And what does this photo have to do with it?" she asked surprised.

"Do you see anything strange about that photo?" Ella looked at the photo again.

"It's just a picture of us in that little diner." She looked at everything until her gaze rested on the spot I wanted her to see. "That's that man! Who looked at us so strangely at the time.

"Precisely." I said. "There's something about that man. There's nothing weird about that photo! Jason would never have acted so weird otherwise. And come on, that man is creepy!" Ella handed my cellphone back.

"So what's the plan?" I quickly took a handful of chips.

"I don't know. Maybe Lyla can help?"

"Yes, call her!" cried Ella. I quickly dialed Lyla's number and waited for the phone to ring.

L: Hi with Lyla Jones

P: Hey Lyla. Piper here!

L: Oh, hello Piper? Is everything all right? is there something wrong with your brother?

P: No, he's okay. I actually called for you.

L: For me?

P: Yes, how well can you track people?

L: Uhm, pretty good I guess?

P: Prefect,

L: Yes, of course

P: Okay, I'll see you soon! Day!

L: Until then.

I jumped up from my bed and dragged Ella along.

"Where are you going?" Luca asked as we ran into the room.

"We're going to Lyla. We need her help!" I pulled my coat from the kitchen chair and quickly grabbed my car keys.

"Have fun. Let me know when you get back home." I gave Luca a quick kiss and then ran to my car with Ella. Within ten minutes we had arrived at Lyla's house. She let us in right away and offered us something to drink.

"Okay, what can I do for you?" she asked as she sipped her glass of tea.

"We need information about this man." I said as I showed her the photo on my phone.

"Oh, I can't do much with that." she said disappointed. "Don't you have a name? Or work address?" I shook my head.

"Okay. Then I'm going to see if I come across him in police reports from the past year. There are always photos. I can also share the photo with colleagues. Could you forward it?" I nodded and sent the photo. Her phone beeped and she opened the photo again.

"I'm looking through the police reports. You can watch some television or something." Ella and I plopped down on the couch. I opened my inbox and checked my messages.

'Hey Piper,

Jason isn't so happy I just let you go. Can you ask him to stop hitting? Love your dearest unofficial boyfriend, Luca'

-Luca 21:59

I chuckled at the message. Jason was too protective of me. But why was he already back from the club?

Ella and I were watching the last bit of a romantic movie. We missed the beginning, but the ending was cute nonetheless.

"What a predictable ending." Ella sighed as she slumped back on the couch.

"Stop whining, baby." I laughed as I slapped her arm.

"Ladies, I found something." We heard Lyla say from the kitchen. We walked over to her and sat down at the table again. Lyla turned her laptop to us and we read the article.

Case: Illegal drug trafficking (1 week ago)

Last night, three men were arrested on suspicion of illegal drug trafficking. Police intercepted the cargo in an abandoned industrial area, after tips from local residents. It involves three men of around fifty years of age. Two of the men already had a criminal record and were immediately taken into custody. The other man (49) had a clean criminal record and is now walking free again. The police did not have enough evidence to detain him. Nevertheless, we warn all people in the surrounding region. We don't know what these moons are capable of. Below are the photos and a description of the suspects.

I looked at the police photos of the three men and indeed one of these men was my stalker. What would Jason know him from?

"Well fine, so I'm being stalked by a criminal."

"It looks like that." Lyla muttered disappointed. "There's something else here." She scrolled down the page and I started reading again.

From left to right- below were the police photos. Dimitri Tereshkov. Dimitri was a broad-set man with a tattoo across the side of his face. He looked very terrifying. Livio Medici. This man looked like a smooth Italian. His hair was combed back and a small mustache stood on his upper lip. The third and final man was my stalker. Patrick Williams.

"Williams? It wouldn't be... No."

**

1175 words

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