“You were right,” says Nicholas. “There he goes.”

“Looks like he’s heading down to D.C.”

“What are you doing?”

“Calling for backup. In case we lose him.”

“Backup from whom?”

“The police, silly,” says Belle. “I’ve got the license number. All I need is some extra pairs of eyes watching for the car in case we should lose him somewhere.”

“Will they help?”

“Of course. We don’t want to lose this guy and we can’t let him get suspicious that he is being trailed. It’s better to have posts along the way. He would never know the highway patrol was watching him.”

——————————————————————————————–

“Boy, is it hot out here,” says Buster.

“You’ve been in New York too long,” says Gregory.

“I’m glad to be back,” says Buster. “Everything set for the next phase?”

“Justin will go to L.A. tomorrow.”

“Alone?”

“The Bandit is expected.”

——————————————————————————————–

Ashley barges into Sylvia’s office, where John and Paul are meeting with her.

“Has anyone seen Belle?” asks Ashley.

Paul rolls his eyes. “Belle has a life of her own to lead. She doesn’t answer to any of us.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” says Ashley. “But what if something’s happened to her?”

“Since when were you so concerned about Belle’s welfare?” asks Paul.

Ashley glares at him. “She is my baby sister.”

“As if that means something to you.”

“Enough,” says Sylvia. “Belle called to let me know she and Nicholas were going out of town for a couple of days.”

“Nicholas?” asks Ashley and Paul.

“Yes,” says Sylvia. “They have been going around together.”

“They went alone?” asks Ashley, bristling.

“As far as I know.”

——————————————————————————————–

“Nice hotel,” comments Belle. “The Clover.”

“I’m surprised not to be in the middle of downtown in a hole somewhere,” says Nicholas.

“We’d better hurry,” says Belle, getting out of the car and grabbing a bag from the back seat.

“What’s in there?” asks Nicholas.

“Some props. C’mon.”

They enter the hotel just as Shikes steps into an elevator. As the door closes, Belle rushes forward. “Hold, please!” The door opens and she and Nicholas climb in. “Thank you.” Shikes nods. Seeing the button for “14″ lighted, she asks for “13″.

When the elevator lets them off at “13″, she leads Nicholas down the hall to the stairwell. “Put this hat on and turn your coat inside out.”

“What?”

“Just do it. We can’t let him recognize us.” She dons a wig and a hat as she climbs the stairs.

On the fourteenth floor, she signals for him to be quiet as they open the door from the stairs to the landing. Walking down casually towards the elevator, arm in arm, she whispers to him and he giggles. A knock sounds from around the corner. They speed past the elevator and down the hall. At the end, they see Shikes entering a room.

“Let’s get the room number and go back down,” says Belle.

——————————————————————————————–

“He talked,” says Lisa. “He talked!”

“That’s great,” says Rick. “We’re making progress.”

“I wonder what Marie and Dan did with him?”

“We can compare notes. How about having them over for dinner tomorrow. It might give Marie and Nana a chance to get to know each other as well.”

——————————————————————————————–

“Nicholas has been very busy chasing after his story,” says Frank. “So we need someone to take on the main duties of reporting on local news.”

“You want me for that position?” asks Rachel.

“You’ve been very thorough with your work,” says Carol. “But you’ve only been taking the small jobs. We think you have tremendous potential and would like to offer you the opportunity to use all your talents. It’s up to you. Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“I’m flattered. I enjoy working here and although the prospect scares me a little, I’ll try not to let you down.”

——————————————————————————————–