by BMB Johnson
The elevator was behind some lockers and seemed like a place they shouldn’t be authorized to go. Lonnie pushed the button and a whirring sound began to emanate behind the doors. Melody held her breath for fear that the two mysterious men might be in there on their way down.
Lonnie nodded. “How about Mike?”
“Huh?”
“You were thinking he needed a name, weren't you?”
“No. Don't be daft.”
“Yes you were I know you too well. The creepy cowboy guy is Gordon, so the hairy guy needs a name, too.”
“So Mike?”
“Hairy Mike,” Lonnie said, smiling.
“Fine,” Melody said. “You can name the bad man this time.”
There was a ding! and the doors slowly began to open.
“We might be headed for a trap,” Melody said.
“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Lonnie tried to assure her.
The elevator was small, but very cozy. There was a small writing desk to the side, on top of which were fanned out pamphlets about the research library.
“Should we wait for Dad?”
“He's still being nonchalant over there,” Lonnie said. “He can catch the next one.”
Melody looked worried. “But he might need our protection.” Her narrowed eyes indicated that she was truly worried for her father's safety.
“Okay,” Lonnie said. “You might be right.” She stuck her head out of the opening of the elevator, but didn't catch sight of him. “Hold the door a sec,” she said, and took off down the hallway. She spotted Bernie still around the corner perusing one of the displays. He was laughing at something but Lonnie recognized it right away as one of his apocryphal displays.
“Psst,” Lonnie projected.
Bernie looked up right away. His expression seemed to convey, “Yes, stranger. Did you lose your umbrella?”
“Get over here,” she said.
Bernie looked around, looked back at his wife and slowly began to shake his head.
Lonnie winked at him, nodded in agreement, and then proceeded to give him a thumbs up. She then held up four fingers, although this only seemed to confuse him Lonnie grimaced, waved him off and then returned to the elevator.
“I think your father is getting dumber,” she said.
Melody laughed, but then stopped. “Wait,” she said. “He's not coming?”
“Hopefully he'll figure it out once the clues settle in.”
The doors closed silently, and the room began to move slowly upwards.
“As I see it,” Lonnie continued, “our mission is two-fold: find those men and keep them in our sights.”
Melody shook her head. “Is that two folds? That seems like exactly one-fold to me,” she said. “A combined fold perhaps, but single none-the-less.”
Lonnie sighed. “I didn’t think I had to mention the original fold.” She pulled her phone from her pocket. “Hand on, I think Bernie’s texting me.” She smiled.
“What?”
“He’s complaining. He had to pay for our tickets once Darleen regained her senses.”
“I thought tickets were free,” Melody said, grimacing.
“Only to residents.”
“Aren’t we residents?”
“Apparently, we both wandered off without showing your ID.”
“Maybe Darleen will give us a refund if we show them to her now.”
Lonnie shook her head. “Do you really want to go down that road?”
Melody shrugged. “I’m kind of curious actually where that crumb ended up.”
