Invasion

The sergeant and his detective are trying to finish their work despite the chaos around them. There was an accident on the square, and it seems that over half the town has either witnessed or been a part of it somehow.

Fed up with the commotion, Jerry decides to move to a quieter spot. He's busy gathering his things when he sees Rachel shuffling through the crowd. He stops and waits. "Did you find anything? "he asks.

A curious expression crosses her face. "What?" She dodges a disgruntled lady and her crying kid.

"Did you find anything?" Jerry repeats.

"The owners claim they haven't loaned out their vehicles to anyone, and by the looks of them, I can see why."

"I have a few more for you, but they're all a distance away."

Rachel holds out her hand. "Lay it on me."

Jerry gives her his notes

Rachel scans the report. "Looks like I'm taking an extensive road trip."

Joe glances up from his desk. "I'll go too. I need to get out of this madhouse before I go nuts."

"It's a little late for that, boss." Jerry laughs.

"Yeah, I hate to break it to you, bud, but the loony bin called and said you're too far gone."

"I think you both are," Rachel adds.

"Yeah, and you're not too far behind."

"Working with you two would drive anyone insane."Smiling, Rachel turns and walks away.

***

Jeff, Julie, and the girls are huddled on the couch, unsure what to do. The noises continue to get louder in the other room. Grabbing his keys from the table, Jeff whispers, "Let's go."

Julie nervously glances at the door, turns, and asks"What if his buddies are waiting outside?"

Jeff hates the idea of being trapped in the house, but what if Julie is right? Making a quick decision, he whispers, "Upstairs."

The Donaldsons are at the bottom of the steps when the kitchen door swings open. Screaming, the four make their way to the top.

"In here, in here, Jeff says, motioning them into the master bedroom. Closing the door, he locks it, eyes the furniture, then says, "The dresser will give us extra protection."

Julie hands Rebecca the phone. "Call 911." She instructs, turning her attention to the heavy oak piece.

With a few hard tugs, they were finally able to slide the furniture across.

Julie eyes the door again. "Now what?"

"In here." Jeff motions everyone to the bathroom and then secures that barrier too.

"We didn't see him, but we heard him," Rebecca says into the phone.

Julie takes the cell away.

"We are upstairs in the master bath. The bedroom and bathroom doors are locked. Julie glances up from the phone. " Help is on the way "

"Good," Jeff says, nervously eyeing the door.

***

Mapping out the list in her mind, Rachel turns and says, "I think we should head out to Yellville and then work our way back in."

Joe nods. "Sounds like a plan."

Joe and Rachel are heading toward their destination when the dispatcher's voice echoes through their radio.

"There's a 10-62 in progress at 225 circle drive."

Gasping, Rachel turns toward Joe and says, "That's Donaldson's house."

"Tell dispatch we're on our way." Hitting the lights, Joe makes a U-turn in the center of the road.

An image of her friend being beaten comes to mind as they speed down the final block. Seeing their house beside her, Rachel springs out of the car before it has a chance to stop. She passes two rookies as she dashes down the drive. Drawing her gun from its holster, Rachel races through the door, her co-workers a few steps back. One goes to the right, the others to the left. Joe catches up with Rachel on the stairs. "Clear," the officer says as the duo slowly makes her way to the top.

Finding the hall empty, Joe and Rachel check the remaining rooms. Like the downstairs, they, too, were clear.

Reaching the master bedroom, Rachel pounds on the door and says, "You can come out now. You're safe," Not hearing anything, she tries again. "Guy's, it's me, Rachel. Your house is clear."

She hears furniture slide away. The door flies open. Abby dashes across the hall. "Aunt Rachel."

"Hi, pumpkin," she says, scooping the child into her arms.

Wearly, Julie makes her way to the door. She pushes a loose strand of hair away from her face and says, "You saved the day again."

"We didn't do anything. The burglar was gone when we got here."

"Puppy," the girls say, running toward the stairs.

They turn to find a fluffy mutt doing his best to climb his way up.

"How did he get in here?"

"I think I know how. " Julie glances at her daughter, a stern look on her face.

Abby timidly glances up. "Becca and I were trying to find out who could climb through the doggy door the fastest."

"I told her to close it, Mom," Rebecca adds.

The child shrugs. "I forgot."

"So, who won?"

Rebecca glances at her baby sister, winks at her dad, and then says," It was a tie."

In between licks, Abby giggles and says, "I think he likes me. "

The dog turns his attention to Rebecca. "Me too. "

"Can we keep him, Daddy?" Abby asks, throwing her chubby arms around the fluff ball's neck.

"You promised we'd get another when Zoe died. "Rebecca adds.

Seeing the look on Julie's face, Jeff says, "Let your mom and I talk about it, ok?"

"Please, Mommy, please? Becca and I promise to take care of him and clean up his mess."

"We'll feed him and everything, Rebecca adds.

Zoe was a good dog, but they couldn't housebreak her no matter how hard they tried. Julie certainly didn't want to go through all that again. Julie glares at Jeff. "We'll see."

Patting the dog's head, the rookie makes his way up the stairs. "There's trash scattered across the kitchen, and the door was locked, which leads me to believe he's what you heard."

Jeff glances down at the adorable pup." We ran from him?" The dog jumps on him. Jeff laughs

Julie shakes her head. "He was our third scare of the day."

"Your third?" Rachel asks.

"First the door, then the spider, and now him." She pets the dog and then says, "Speaking of spiders, You wouldn't mind doing us one more favor, would you, Rach?"

"What's that?"

"We have a mean spider with large teeth in our house, and Mommy and Daddy are scared of him," Abby says.

Rachel laughs. "Lead the way."

"There it is, '' Rebecca jumps on the couch, pointing toward the creature. The rest of the family follows.

Rachel studies it for a minute, then says, "This little guy is a wolf spider. He eats all the bad spiders in the house, some reptiles too."

"Kill it." Julie shivers. Her thought is the only good spiders are the dead ones.

"I have a better idea." Scooping it up with a newspaper, Rachel tosses it on the lawn.

"Thanks, Rach."

"Yeah, thanks," Jeff says, making his way down to the floor.

Rachel chuckles."Don't mention it." A mischievous idea suddenly comes to mind. Getting her friend's attention, Rachel glances at Jeff, the floor, then at Julie for approval.

"Go for it, "Julie whispers. Many of their pranks began with a mere look and a nod.

"There's another one," Rachel yells, pointing towards the floor.

"Where," Jeff shrieks, jumping on the sofa. Screaming, the girls follow suit.

"I couldn't resist." The detective laughs.

"Well, I didn't find your joke funny." Jeff climbs down.

"Yeah," the girls agree.

"But we did." Rachel and Julie laugh.

"Where?" Julie mimics Jeff's high-pitched squeal. They laugh again.

"I haven't played a good joke like that in a while." Rachel chuckles.

"I'm glad you two found that so funny."

"We did," Julie giggles, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"It's been fun, guys, but I need to get back to work. Call me if you need anything. And Jeff, watch out for those bugs." Snickering, the detective closes the door behind her.

Jeff glances at his watch. "I should go too."

"Not without a kiss, you don't, my handsome businessman." She grabs his coat and pulls him to her. "Pucker up, big boy."

"Oh gross," their youngest replies.

"Really, guys," Rebecca adds, shaking her head.

"I'll be waiting for you upstairs," she whispers. Julie licks his ear lobe and feels an immediate response.

"I can't wait." He kisses her again. Jeff's phone vibrates in his pocket.

Julie raises her brows."That's something new."

Jeff chuckles. "It's not me. It's my phone." He pulls the device from his pocket. "Hello."

Luigi's gruff voice echoes through the phone. "Save all the mushy stuff for later. We have work to do."

Jeff anxiously glances around. "How do you… Oh, never mind, I'm on my way." Kissing his wife one last time, Jeff darts out the door.