Mystery Loves Company

Chapter 5 - File #2.3: The Runaway Man

Rhett

My eyes were following the man as he went straight to one of the shelves, took one bottle of aspirin, and brought it to the counter. I swiftly moved behind the shelf in the corner while quietly watching him.

Dr. Quinn checked the medicine out. "Do you need anything else?"

"Where is the girl that usually works here?" Taking out cash, he asked back, making both me and the doctor quite startled.

"Oh, Maxine? She can't come to work because of a personal matter," Dr. Quinn smiled bitterly.

Why would that man be asking about Maxine? Was he some kind of stalker? Man, that was creepy. Not to mention that he was a lot older than her.

I slowly took out my notebook from my folder. Clamping the folder with my armpit, I tried to write everything that just happened on a new page. There were so many things to write about, and because I was so focused, my folder slipped out and fell. I bent my body to take it, but my head hit the shelf that used to be my cover, and the medicines on it fell off.

I jumped back, as if they were a bunch of rats. My body then bumped the shelf that was attached on the wall behind me—the same thing happened. It even broke. I finally stopped moving around, but on the floor around me scattered many kinds of medicines that were not supposed to be mixed. They were placed on different shelves for a reason.

Both men turned their heads around. "You okay, boy?" asked the man.

I could only grin while holding my notebook and folder on my chest.

"Oh, no!" exclaimed Dr. Quinn, looking shocked and mad. He then quickly approached me and knelt down to pick the medicines in panic.

"I-I'm really sorry," I said, immediately helping him. The man started to leave the pharmacy and I couldn't just let him go—but I also couldn't leave Dr. Quinn cleaning up my mess. "I'm sorry..."

"Yeah, you said that already," said the doctor curtly.

"...but I have to go," I continued. "Professor Randall wants us to gather the assignment first thing in the morning, so..."

"What? No! You have to help me rearrange these!" Dr. Quinn insisted. I could hear he faintly cursed. Now I knew why Noel was always mad when he couldn't memorize his note or screwed up his works—being a doctor was excruciatingly hard.

"You know what, I'll pay for the damage. Let me give you my number." I opened a blank page in my notebook, ready to rip it when I realized something. I used Noel's name—and it was pretty much a disguise. I couldn't just give him my real number, let alone Noel's. "On a second thought, why don't I get your number? I'll call, I promise."

"Uh..." He looked too distracted to think it through, so he finally gave his phone number.

"Thank you. Please do expect my call." I wrote the number on the page hastily before fleeing. I felt bad for leaving him there, but I can't lost that man either!

Okay, the man wore New York Yankees jacket with white sleeves. It shouldn't be that hard to notice. He also didn't walk that fast, so he could still be around here.

Gotcha!

I saw him heading out of the campus area with a small plastic bag on his hand. I followed him behind, to an old apartment building which wasn't really far from the campus. It was probably where he lived. I wrote down the address on my notebook and planned to go back there with my car that I parked near the clinic.

Look at me, in a car with junk food and soda, doing a stakeout! I felt like those detectives in crime-mystery movies. Waiting the whole night in front of the apartment in case the suspect came out... which he did, the next morning.