PROLOGUE

Fogle
Towers � Monday, December 6, 2021, early morning

Logan was sitting on the training table, lifting weights,
when his cell phone rang.� After setting down the dumbbells and drying
his face with a towel, he reached down carefully and picked up the
phone from the seat of his wheelchair nearby.� He glanced at the caller
ID before answering.� �Hey, Max.�

�Hey,�
Max said with a smile in her voice.� Logan could hear her Ninja idling in the
background.� �Me hittin�
you back.�

�I
was hoping you could stop by on your way to work.� Got
some dastardly deeds to discuss.�

She
laughed.� �It never ends, does it?� So what�s on the mighty Eyes Only�s plate today?�

�I�m
looking into some corruption.� You know � same old, same old,� he
joked.

�I�m
on my way to Terminal City right now to pick somethin� up,� Max said, �but I�ll swing by afterward.�

�Sounds good.�

�Cool.�
See ya later.�

Max
closed her phone and tucked it into her pocket. She revved the engine,
put the Ninja into gear, and began flying down the road.

It�s
been a week and Logan and I still haven�t had that talk he mentioned.�
Sure, Normal�s been ridin�
my ass and givin� me extra overtime, but
that�s not the only reason.� Logan keeps sayin�
it�s not a good time.� It�s gotta be about his legs, but every time
he stalls, I can�t help wondering what�s holding him back.� Not like
it would kill him to show a little more respect for me, and tell me
the truth.� But I guess that�s Logan � everything has to be just so before
he�ll make his move.� Only one of these days it�s gonna come back
and bite him in the ass.

Detective
Agency/Laundromat

�Picked
up the supplies for our little P.I. business,� Alec declared, plopping
two bags on the desk. �And the extra money will be nice if we can
get those washers out there to start working again.� He rubbed his
hands together in anticipation. �The Alec and Gem Detective Agency.�

Gem�s
head shot up from where she sat behind the desk, cradling Elfie in
her arms. �I was thinking the �Gem and Alec Detective
Agency.��

Alec
shrugged. �Hey, I was just trying to keep it in alphabetical order�makes
it easier for the public to remember,� he said. �Plus, I already put
it on the sign out front.�

Gem
rolled her eyes. �What, that piece of cardboard that�s gonna fall
down at the first rain? Which will probably be in, what?� Five minutes?�

Alec
huffed, pretending to be annoyed.

�We
could combine our names,� she offered.

�Hmm,
let�s see…� Alec tapped his chin, feigning deep thought. �Gemalec? Lameceg? Acemelg? Legacem?�

Gem
started laughing. �No, you�re right…we should keep it �Gem and Alec
Detective Agency.��

�You
mean Alec and Gem.�

�No,
I meant…� Gem trailed off as Alec began unloading the bags. �Alec,
that isn�t the stuff I got for us!� she exclaimed. �What happened
to the stapler, the hole punch, the paper?�

�Ah,
we can go back and pick those up at Joshua�s later. For now, I was
thinking we could blow off some steam and relax,� he said casually.
Grinning, he produced a dartboard from the first bag, modeling it
with flair for her approval.

Gem
groaned in response. �I can see this is going to be a 60/40 arrangement,
huh?�

�That�s
right. 60 percent fun and 40 percent work,� Alec replied, positioning
the board on the wall. He turned to look at her. �Aww,
come on, Gem. Let�s just get everything set up today and then we can
start actually working tomorrow. Deal?�

Gem
eyed him and then looked down at Elfie sleeping peacefully in her
arms. She sighed. Turning up one corner of her mouth, she said, �Okay.
Three outta five wins.�

�That�s
my girl.� Alec grinned. �Now why don�t�?�

Alec
was interrupted by a loud banging from the front of the laundromat.
Gem looked at him, alarmed.

�You
stay here with Elfie,� Alec said. �I�ll go check it out.�

END
OF PROLOGUE