The Ford Files

Chapter One: The Plan

Brushing hair out of my eyes, I peered through the blinds at my boyfriend. Justin Daniels was quite a sight; imposing in his 6-ft frame, he was the picture of professionalism; his dark sunglasses and the barely-visible gun holster adding to his air of danger. He and the rest of the team had just arrived while I, as usual, had arrived a good hour ahead of them. Pulling out my phone, I watched as he answered my call.
"Hello?"
"Guess where I am." I saw his shoulders heave as he sighed.
"Meg, I am not doing this with you." He didn't even bother looking around him, even though he knew I was watching. I frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean. Stop playing around, I'm on a case."
"I'm not playing around." I replied, slightly miffed and trying to keep my tone light. "I'm on the case with you, silly." He sighed through his nose again.
"I don't want this to be a repetition of last time, you hear me?" He sounded annoyed. Putting a fist against his hip, he continued. "Please at least try to act professionally on this one."
Ouch. That stung.
"What do you mean 'last time'?" I watched as he ran a hand through his thick dark hair, clearly frustrated with me.
"You know what I mean."
"No, I don't actually." He sighed but I interrupted him before he could say more.
"If you don't want my help, you could've just said so. You didn't have to be such a jerk about it."
"Meg—" I hung up on him, watching as he looked at his phone, shook his head and pocketed it, once again without scanning the area for me. I gave him one last glare before turning to the boys in the room with me. Walking so that I wouldn't be visible through the window, I smiled up at my client. Ryan Ford was the eldest son of a successful defense attorney and the picture of perfection. With his artfully styled blonde hair and bright baby blues, it was obvious why so many girls swooned over him. Money and good looks weren't the only virtues Ryan had been blessed with, though. He was also a gentleman, respectful and polite; friendly and kind. Any girl would be lucky to be Ryan Ford's girlfriend. And since I was angry with Justin, I, too, openly admired the God-like vision before me.
"Sorry about that."
He smiled down at me, his dimples making his face that much more charming. "It's alright, Agent Williams."
"Meg, please." I gave him my most flirty smile.
"Meg, then", He amended, eating it up.
"I know this is going to sound really weird but I'd very much like it if you could hide me from the rest of my team. I'd rather not let them know I was here." Touching his arm lightly, I smiled sweetly up at him. "Okay?" He grinned down at me, clearly not offended my flirting.
"Sure."
"Thanks." I beamed up at him. With that settled, I scanned the room. The four other boys were about Ryan's age; 25—26. They were his friends from college. Trevor was the Jock of the group; a quarterback who'd gotten into college on a football scholarship. He looked the part, with his Matt Damon physique and his shaggy dirty-blonde hair. His eyes were also blue, and though they weren't as bright as Ryan's, they were just as pretty. But like any jock, he wasn't the brightest of guys and he was also something of a jerk. So far, most of what he'd spoken had consisted of one-syllable words, such as "dude" and "grub". The most sophisticated thing I'd heard him say was when he'd turned to me and said, "You're hot." I decided he was harmless enough, though I didn't find his comment at all flattering.
Then my eyes fell on Dave, the nerd of the group. His fashionable designer glasses showed that he wasn't you're average computer geek. And even the glasses weren't enough to hide the extreme amount of intelligence in his emerald-green eyes. His short, cropped black hair accented an air of professionalism different from the one Justin usually radiated. He seemed so sophisticated; I wondered what he was doing with guys like Trevor. Noticing my gaze, he gave me a polite nod, and turned his attention back to the iPad on his lap.
Smiling slightly, I turned to Logan, the artsy guy. He was staring at me, his hand moving furiously across the notebook in front of him. Earlier he'd asked if he could do a portrait of me, insisting that I didn't have to sit still. His pale hand flew across the page, shading in and outlining parts of his picture, without taking his grey eyes off of me. His other hand reached up to scratch the back of his head, slightly ruffling his shoulder-lengthen black hair. He didn't even seem to notice. Admittedly, I found the guy extremely creepy, but like the jock, fairly harmless. Finally, my gaze rested on Mike.
His presence was the most surprising. Evidently, Ryan had an extremely strange group of friends, but Mike was by far the strangest of the group. With platinum-blonde, almost-white hair, and deep, dark, almost-black eyes, he was a startling sight. He, too, was staring at me, but without the thoughtful focus of Logan's gaze. No, his stare was more classified as a stalker's leer. Those dark eyes seemed like black holes in his paper-white face. I'd thought Logan's skin was pale but this guy's skin made his look almost bronze. He seemed like he'd never seen the sun, almost like a vampire. To add on to his air of creepiness, the guy hadn't said a single word to me since I'd arrived. Following my gaze, Ryan laughed.
"Cut that out, Mikey! You're scaring her!" 'Mikey' blinked, as if Ryan had just woken him from a long nap. He looked around, clearly unsure of where he was, and blinked again.
"Huh?"
Ryan laughed again and winked down at me. "Sorry about that. I know he seems real freaky at first but he's harmless, I swear. Isn't that right, Mikey?" 'Mikey' blinked again, and his eyes focused on Ryan before returning to me. His stare was now confused. It was as if he'd never seen me before. He confirmed as much when he spoke.
"Who's she?"
Trevor reached over, smacking him upside the head and in an instance of pure genius, asked, "Really, dude?" as if Mike was the one severely lacking necessary IQ points.
If the whole thing hadn't been so strange, I would've found it funny, but as it was, I was baffled.
Then Dave raised his head and gave Trevor a disapproving frown, then turned to me.
"He truly is rather harmless, Miss," he informed me politely. "He just has a rather unusual tendency to zone out every now and then." He turned back to Mike. "Michael, this is Agent Williams, she is a detective and is here to help us solve the little problem we've been having, alright?" He spoke slowly, as though he were speaking to a young child or someone who was severely mentally disabled.
Mike was still staring at me as if he'd never seen a girl before.
"Michael?" he blinked, turning his wide eyes to Dave. "Do you understand?" Mike turned his gaze back to me and pointing, he spoke.
"Lady Detective."
"That's right." Dave smiled.
Still chuckling, Ryan motioned to the door. "C'mon, I'll introduce you to the rest of the gang."
As I followed him into the next bedroom, I heard someone move behind me. Glancing back, I saw that Logan had gotten up to follow us out of the room, his hand still flying across the page in front of him.
"Aw shucks, Ry. You shouldn't have!" An unfamiliar redheaded boy approached me as I entered the room, beaming, his arms outstretched. I side-stepped his hug as he continued, "Just what I wanted! This is the best belated-birthday present ever!"
I saw Ryan roll his eyes as he grabbed the other guy by the shirt, holding him away from me. "Quit it, Ronny."
The guy stopped squirming and his shoulders slumped dramatically.
"So this isn't the limited-edition Sexy Detective I asked for?"
"No." The guy deflated, his disappointment apparently so great that his shoulders hunched over and all of the energy seemed to evaporate from his body.
"Ronny-boy," Ryan grinned at him. "This is Agent Williams. She is here to help us solve our problem."
"And so we expect you to behave." Dave's voice rang out from the room behind us.
'Ronny' mocked offense.
"Behave?" he asked, as if it was the most ridiculous thought in the world. "What do you mean 'behave'? I am the most well-behaved one in this house!"
  This time, even I rolled my eyes. Ronny turned his pale green eyes on me, gasping in disbelief. "What? Even you don't think I can behave? You don't even know me!" Then, he abruptly shifted gears. Sliding closer to me, he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Of course, we could always find some way to change that." He winked at me.
I raised an eyebrow at him. Then, walking to the window, I motioned him over.
Misunderstanding this as a desire to be alone with him, he complied eagerly.
Moving the curtains aside so he could see, I pointed, making sure I was able to see but not be seen by the group outside.
"See that guy out there? The tall one with the black leather jacket and aviator shades?" He nodded slowly, evidently not enjoying the change in subject. "That's my boyfriend, Justin."
His eyes widened—he'd just noticed the gun hidden beneath Justin's jacket and --as it was meant to-- Justin's gun scared Ronny.
I smiled at him. "Yup, that's a real gun. He rarely takes it off." I let the curtains fall. "And though usually I enjoy his charming company, today I would very much like it if you and your friends kept my presence here a secret from him and the rest of the team." I winked at him, walking away from the window.
Ryan grinned at me. "Kudos for making Ronny speechless on your first day here." I beamed.
"Thanks."
"It usually takes about a week to shut him up. Cheers to you, Miss!" This came from the queen-sized bed on the other side of the room.
I turned to see a boy of about fifteen stretched out on the blankets. He grinned at me; his sparkling blue eyes the exact same shade as Ryan's. As if he could read my mind, the boy sat up and extended a hand to me.
"Nathan Ford." He smiled at me as I shook his hand. "It is very nice to meet you, Agent Williams."
"Meg." I corrected, smiling back at him. The boy gave me a knowing look.
"Now if you're trying to hide from your boyfriend, wouldn't it be smarter to call you by a different name?"
  I blinked at him, surprised.
The kid had a point.
  "How about Maggie?" he suggested. "It's close enough to your name, right?" 
I nodded.
Ryan beamed. "Hear that boys?" He called to the guys in the other room. "From now on, we call the lady Maggie."
"Alright!" they called back, Logan, sitting at the desk by the window, nodded.
"It's settled then." Ryan nodded to his little brother. "Great idea, kid."
The boy beamed at the praise from a brother he obviously worshipped.
  That's when I heard footsteps approaching from the hall. Justin's voice was polite; he must've been talking to Ryan's dad.
I dashed back into the other room and ducked into the restroom, slamming the door behind me just as Justin's voice became close enough for me to understand.
Locking the door, I flipped on the light, listening with my ear pressed against the door.
"I am Agent Daniels and this is Agent Gilbert." I heard the slight jingle of his watch, which told me he was shaking someone's hand.
"Ryan Ford." I heard Ryan reply as the jingling stopped. "That's my little brother, Nate." I heard them come closer, into the room and wished I'd hidden in the closet; I loved watching Justin in action. Hearing their footsteps approach, I went to sit on the toilet, the fuzzy-covered top making it a comfortable chair. "This here's my best friend Ronny, and these guys are Dave, Logan, Mike, and Trevor." There was a brief silence as the men nodded to each other.
  Then I heard Taylor speak.
"Is it just me, or are we getting dirty looks?"
I choked on my laugh, covering my mouth quickly.
But not quickly enough.
I heard Justin's familiar footsteps approach and then his voice sounded from just beyond the door.
"Hello?" he knocked lightly. "Is someone in there?" He tried the door as Ryan spoke.
"Oh yeah. That's just Maggie, my girlfriend. You know girls, they take freakin' forever in there." Justin chuckled with Ryan and in my best blonde-cheerleader impression, I called out to them.
"I heard that!"
"You were supposed to, Sweet Cheeks. You know it's true." I rolled my eyes at the nickname and then heard Justin speak.
"I guess I'm lucky, then." He chuckled to himself. "I mean, I've dated girls who took forever to get ready before, but my girlfriend now is usually out the door before I'm even up."
  I smirked. He was right about that. The team usually got their cases from the sticky notes I left on Justin's forehead before heading out. Thus, I usually started the case much earlier than they did.
  Taylor laughed.
"God, she would love to hear you say that. With all the crap you give her for not being as hard-assed as yourself, no one would ever think you considered yourself lucky to have her." I heard Justin chuckle again.
"Just don't tell her I said so, then" he replied good-naturedly.
"I probably don't have to, knowing her; she's probably watching us right now and heard every word you said."
  I heard him chuckle sheepishly. "I doubt that. She's mad at me right now." I could imagine Taylor rolling his eyes.
"Of course she is." I continued to sit and listen as Justin shrugged the comment off and proceeded to talk business. Most of his questions were things I'd already gone over with Ryan, procedural things. I began tuning him out, patiently waiting for him to leave and regroup. It didn't take long.
"All right." Justin began his closing statement, the jingling of his watch telling me that he was once again shaking hands with the group. "I think that'll be enough for now. One of our Agents will be staying in the front house every night until we solve this. We'll be in touch." He gave the door a gentle tap. "It was nice meeting you, miss."
I listened as his footsteps faded and cautiously, I peeked out of the restroom.
Ryan smiled at me from the window.
"Don't worry, he's gone. You're safe." I blew out a relieved sigh as I emerged from the restroom. Then, I grinned.
"Logan and Ron gave them dirty looks?"
"Only your boyfriend." Ryan laughed.
Logan had gone back to his drawing, satisfied now that Justin was gone and I'd come out.
Ron was still frowning.
"I don't see what's so great about him," he claimed when I raised an eyebrow at him. "I mean, other than the fact that he has a gun, he's really nothing special. Not scary at all."
"Nu-uh!" the other guys protested.
"That guy is scary!" Ryan insisted.
"Yeah!" Trevor chimed in brilliantly.
"He has an air of authority around him," Dave conceded. "It makes him quite intimidating."
"Yeah!" Trevor repeated.
"He's quite impressive," Logan agreed quietly, still bent over his work. "You two make a very good match. I would very much like to draw you together." I stared; it was the most I'd ever heard Logan speak.
Apparently, this was true for the rest of the guys as well, for they, too, were staring."
"Whoa.." Trevor breathed, for once voicing the exact thing we were all feeling.
Logan, feeling all of our stares in the silence, looked up. He blinked.
"What?" he asked. "It's true." Chuckling, Ryan shook his head. He grinned at me.
"You brought out a whole other side of Logan we've never seen before. Kudos, Maggie." He winked at me.
  I grinned.
"We need to change you." Nathan pointed out, coming into the room. "Our mom knows this make-up artist that can help. And we need to get you a wig. Blonde, preferably, because we all know how much my brother likes blondes."
The guys snickered, some nodding in agreement. They all grinned as Ryan turned bright red.
He reached out and gave his brother a light smack on the head.
"Shut up, Nate," He muttered. "I like brunettes too." He looked at me. "I do." Behind him, Nathan rolled his eyes.
"Whatever, Ry. Either way, if she was blonde, it'd make it harder to recognize her, adding to the fact that they don't expect it to be her." Then, he looked at me. "Will they?" I shook my head.
"I usually stay hidden during cases. Investigating when they leave a room and disappearing before they get back. They wouldn't expect me to be out in the open like this. And Maggie has already been established as one of you, so they don't expect her to be made up." I grinned. "I rarely go undercover. This is gonna be fun!"
Nathan pulled out a cell phone and I turned back to smile at Ryan.
Grabbing his arm, I pulled myself closer to him. "You up for it, boyfriend?"
He beamed down at me, reaching to pat my arm.
"I agree that a blonde would suit you better. Her air of authority doesn't complement your care-free rich-boy air. She is more suitable with a man who shares her air of authority and importance. Despite the fact that she doesn't carry a firearm, like the other agents, there is this subtle air of danger around her. You don't have that, Ryan. And, Miss, I suggest you change your body language to accommodate your new character, Maggie."
  The room was once again dead quiet as we all stared at Logan.
Ryan glared at him. I nodded, chuckling.
"Thanks, Logan." He nodded, shading in parts of his practically-finished picture.
"Would you draw a picture of Ryan and I after I get through with putting on the Maggie make up?"
He nodded, though a bit reluctantly.
"And if you think I seem impressive now, you should see me in action."
I winked at him. He caught it and his pale skin turned an embarrassing shade of red. Nathan got off the phone and, nodding to me, he grinned.
"She'll be here in ten minutes. She has a wig that will work too; one that looks real."
  I felt eyes on me and turned to see Mike's glazed eyes staring at me. I snapped my fingers in his face until he blinked and focused on my fingers.
"Hello, Mike."
His eyes moved from my hand to my face. "Maggie." I nodded, smiling at him, though I was still fairly freaked out by him.
"Y'all have room for me in the front house, right?"
Nathan grinned at me and spoke before his brother could offer his own room.
"You tell us."
  Smart kid.
"Well, there are four of you, and six rooms, not including the nursery. That leaves two empty rooms." I smiled. "I'll take the one next to Ryan's room, move in for a while. My team will probably set up shop in the library between all of the rooms, easy access to you all and the first floor in case of an emergency. And you can hear the most from the library. They'll probably take turns watching the security feeds in there. They'll be doing all-nighters, but only once a week. The weekends will be watched by pairs since I will not be joining them." I grinned. "My room would be close to the stairs and the library. This will be better for me." I winked at them. "I get all the sleep I want, and as the beloved of a spoiled rich boy, I can sleep in whenever I want, which also gives me a reason to stay behind and take forever to get 'get ready'." I beamed, quoting the phrase with my fingers.
The guys laughed at my calling Ryan a spoiled rich boy and Dave let out a low whistle.
"You've only been here for an hour and you know the layout of the house better than we do." I winked at him.
"Just doing my job." Nathan grinned at me.
"I don't know about you guys, but I personally can't wait to see Maggie in action."
The guys all nodded in agreement.
I laughed.
"No, no. All Maggie is going to do is twirl her hair, bat her eyelashes, and look pretty while following you all around. Meg on the other hand, is the one you want to watch in action." I pointed at myself. "Meg."
They laughed.
"Point taken." Nathan grinned.
Checking his watch, Ryan motioned to the door.
"I'm gonna go let Missy in. Stay here in case your boyfriend is still around somewhere."
I nodded as he left the room. Turning to Nate, I asked the question that had popped into my head at Ryan's parting words.
"Missy?"
  He shrugged.
Then, I asked the more pressing question. "How long will he be gone?"
"About twenty minutes, why?" I nodded.
"I'll be back." With that, I left the building, headed to the spot I knew they would choose to regroup. Reaching the secluded bench in the middle of the estate's surrounding forests; I knew I was right even before reaching the clearing because I could hear their voices through the trees. I followed the sounds until they were loud enough that I could clearly make out what was being said. I could tell that Justin and Taylor had just arrived by the distance of their voices and what was being said. I climbed into the nearest tree, careful not to make too much noise, and perched on a branch that allowed me to have visual contact and be within hearing range while still remaining hidden.
I'd just settled into my perch when Marc, our team captain, spoke.
"So? How was it?"
  Justin shrugged.
"Honestly? It seems pretty cut-and-dry to me. I mean, he's a wealthy defense attorney. He must have enemies. Also, vandals and robbers target places like this all the time. The question here is, how did they get past the guards?"
I raised an eyebrow down at him. Very impressive, Justin. Very impressive.
Marc looked around the small gathering, his hands placed firmly on the wooden picnic table.
There was a short silence before Kent straightened and spoke. "I bet Meg would know."
        Keegan chuckled in agreement.
        "I'll bet she'd have millions of crazy theories."
        "Where is she?" Elsa wanted to know.
         Marc turned to Justin.
        "Well, Daniels? Where is she?" the whole group turned their eyes on Justin.
          Taylor snorted.
         "Oh, this is gonna be good," he murmured gleefully.
         For the first time since joining the group, Justin looked vaguely uncomfortable.
         "I don't know."
          "What do you mean you don't know?!" Elsa demanded, rising from her seat at the table to stare at him incredulously. "Hasn't she contacted you yet?"
         He shrugged sheepishly.
          "She told me she was on the case with us, but that's all I know."
           "That's it?! Haven't you spoken to her since then?!"
           "Uhm... well.. no."
          "Why not?!"
           "Well.."
           "He pissed her off." Taylor stated flatly, an almost cheerful glint in his eyes.
        "What?!" Elsa was almost in his face.
          Taylor was right, this was good.
          He took a step back, his hands up in surrender.
           "We had a disagreement and now she's not talking to me."
           "That is so unlike you, Daniels!"
            "Is it?" Taylor asked, "I mean, he's always pissing her off."
            "Yeah. He's too hard on her," Keegan agreed.
           "Guys!" Justin sighed exasperated.
"Though that may be true, to lose contact with her at the beginning of an op is irresponsible, and thus very unlike you. Also, she may have valuable clues we may need but were unable to find. Did you even consider these possibilities?!"
"Yes I have, sir." Justin replied somberly. "Also I'm sure she's fine sir, knowing her she'll probably leave the clues in a way that we'd be able to find them." They still seemed doubtful. He sighed. "Look, she called me from somewhere in the house and I'd really rather focus on the op than waste time looking for her when she doesn't want to be found like last time. And, if anything, I'll see her tonight when she gets home." I smiled, boy was he gonna be surprised when I don't, in fact, come home. Elsa sighed.
"I hope she's alright." I checked my watch and realized that I had to go if I wanted to get back before Ryan. Giving them one last glance, I climbed out of the tree and headed back to the house, picking leaves and branches out of my hair. I got back to Nate a full five minutes before Ryan returned with Missy, a glamorous blonde with sparkling blue eyes and perfectly applied make-up, who, as Logan noted, suited Ryan much better than I did. He said as much a second later.
"See? Missy compliments you more, Ryan." To Missy, he said, "The most effective way to change her is to make her look like you." The long-legged blonde nodded appreciatively.
"Thanks, Logan." The sophistication in her voice surprised me and when she turned to me, the intelligence in her eyes was also startling. "Meg?" she asked, offering me her hand. "Marisa Wolfe. You can just call me Missy." I shook her hand, marveling in her firm grip.
"Meagan Williams... But beginning today, when I'm in character, call me Maggie." She giggled, nodding.
"Alrighty then!" she beamed; her pearly whites clearly the work of a very expensive orthodontist. "Let's get started!" Following her into the restroom, I once again sat down on the plush toilet cover and let her work her magic. Following her specific instructions, I allowed her to apply light layers of make-up on my face, while learning the steps so that I could do it myself. About half an hour later, I was finally allowed to look in the mirror. I was truly amazed; I almost couldn't recognize myself. The blue contacts made my green eyes look more turquoise, and the dark eyeliner and mascara emphasized their brightness. The light blue eye shadow and its smoky-eye effect made my eyes pop, concealing the green by over-emphasizing the blue. The wig truly did look real and it was made so that it could blow in the wind and be set up in all sorts of styles without a problem. Even if it was yanked, it would still work. I was wildly impressed.
"Wow." Missy's reflection beamed at me in the mirror.
"You're welcome." Then, she instructed me to wait and scurried out into the room to announce my grand reappearance. The indistinct chatter in the other room quieted to a sudden silence which I took as my cue to go. Opening the door, I stepped out to find everyone staring at me. The boys' expectant stares turned to surprise, while Missy observed gleefully from where she stood next to Ryan. Clapping excitedly, she danced over to stand beside me, her thin arms spread out with a flourish. "Ta-da! What do you guys think?" There was a dead silence.
"Wow.." Trevor murmured, voicing the very thing that was on all of their minds. I pulled self-consciously at a strand of my new golden-blonde locks.
"Does it look weird?"
"No! Not at all!" Ryan insisted, snapping out of his daze. "You look fantastic!"
"Not that you didn't look stunning before," Dave injected quickly.
"Well, yeah, but.." Nate started.
"Wow." Trevor finished for him. Logan nodded in approval.
"Good, now you complement Ryan. I can draw you two together now." He motioned for me to move closer to Ryan and I quickly obliged. Ryan grinned down at me, wrapping an arm around my waist possessively. I made a face at him and laughed when I saw the other guys' envious glares.
"Silly boys," I teased in my 'Maggie' voice. I also made my laugh a lighter pitch and a softer tone, to complement my new look. But then I realized what I was wearing.
"Wait! Logan, would you mind stopping until I can go find some more appropriate clothes?" He shrugged.
"Sure." Turning to Missy, I grinned.
"Mind going shopping with me?" She beamed in return.
"Not at all." I turned to the guys.
"You guys should stay here, shopping is a sport most men don't appreciate." Missy laughed, a high peal that I wanted to mimic for Maggie.
"Let's go!"