Amy sat shivering at the cold, wet bus stop, her mind racing. She had a wicked imagination, which made her quite the actress. Though sometimes her imagination could go way too far, which made things ugly.

She and her best friend, Tammie, were involved in the local community theatre, dancing in the show “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum”. They were having tons of fun, meeting lots of cool kids their age, and learning new things from their vocal coach, Debbie, and their choreographer, Gail. But of course, with every two positives, there’s a negative.

An older, middle-aged man named Lionel, was also in the show. Lionel was very friendly, which of course means nothing, other than he’s friendly, but he had those weird little quirks that sent Amy’s red flags up.

For an example, Lionel brought his video camera with him to every rehearsal, insisting to their director, Martin, that he needed to film himself to see how he was doing for himself, though Amy noticed on a couple occasions that the camera was instead focused on Amber, a sophomore in college, whose routines were on the other side of the stage.

Of course the camera could have been bumped by a careless elbow, but then Amy heard Lionel telling Mitch about his career as a defense attorney, and how he was working on a case for a man who was accused of soliciting to a minor over the internet.

“Is he guilty?” Mitch asked him.

“I don’t know.” He replied. “But I’m getting lots of green if I get him off.”

“So it’s all about the money for you?” Amy couldn’t help but say harshly. He blinked at her.

“Some of them are just misunderstood.” He said.

“Jeez! My foot hurts!” Tammie whined, as she limped over to her chair, where Amy kindly ribbed her purple feet.

“You want some duct tape?” Lionel asked her.

“You have duct tape?” Both Tammie and Amy asked at once.

“Sure.” Pulling out some duct tape and a pocket knife, he cut Tammie a perfect bandage, and placed it on her heel like a slipper.

It made Amy sick .

Being a P.I.’s granddaughter, she was taught that men who carry funny things like pocket knives, cameras with tripods that could be set up anywhere, and duct tape were shady, and shouldn’t be bothered with.

“Wow, that’s so funny and random that Lionel has duct tape in his bag.” Laughed Tammie as she and Amy walked to their bus stop.

“You don’t think it’s just a little too weird that he has that and a camera?” Asked Amy.

“No. Gosh Amy! Get your mind out of the gutter!” Shouted Tammie with slight laughter.

“Well, I just think it’s kind of suspicious. Especially from a man who defends pedifiles for a living.” Said Amy.

“He doesn’t like doing it, and maybe he needs the money.” Argued Tammie. “You can’t be picky with that kind of job.”

“So are you telling me that if some who molested a twelve year old were to come to you asking for help with twenty thousand dollars, you’d take it?!” Asked Amy, hardly able to believe her ears.

“Duh! Sorry that we’re all not rich brats like you!” Snapped Tammie.

Amy would have started yelling, swearing, kicking with all her might, if only Lionel hadn’t driven up in his red Mercedes.

“Hello, ladies!” He said, rolling down the passenger window. “It looks like it’s about to rain. Do you guys want a ride home?”

“Yes please!” Said Tammie. “Thank-you so much!”

“No!” Amy pulled Tammie back. “We have a perfectly warm bus waiting for us.”

“Are you nuts?! Let go of me!” Tammie yanked her arm away from Amy, furious. “If you want to sit out in the rain, that’s you’re problem, not mine!”

“It sounds like you don’t trust me, Amy.” Said Lionel. “If you let me drive you home, I think you’ll be able to see what a nice guy I am.”

“When hell freezes over you scum!” Amy spat at his door to Tammie’s mortification.

“What is your problem, you rude cow!” She shouted, her eyes almost bubbling with tears.

“Get in, Tammie.” Said Lionel, glaring at Amy. “We don’t need Amy to have fun.”

And before Amy could give the slightest yell for help, Lionel was driving away with her best friend. Trudging slowly to the bus stop like her feet were made of led, Amy’s mind spun.

Of course, this had to be the night the bus was an hour late.

When she got home, she met her grandparents in the living room, waiting worriedly.

“Amy!” Her grandma shrieked. “Was the bus late again? I was about to call Jim to go looking for you.”

“Grandpa!” Amy ran right to her grandpa. “I need you to do a background check on a Lionel Kramer.”

“Lionel Kramer?” Her grandpa tilted his head in a funny way, and looked at her. “There’s a name I haven’t heard in a while. Why ‘you asking about him?”

“He’s in the show with us and he’s got Tammie right now. Why? How do you know him?”

“Oh God!” He jumped to his feet quicker than a snap of the fingers, and ran right for their telephone, Amy following closely behind. “What the hell is Tammie doing with him?!”

“He offered us a ride and she took it. Grandpa, what’d he do?”

“Amy, back in my hay day, I arrested Lionel Krammer, but he was brought up on false accusations. Three years later, there was a break in the case, and he was guilty. But we couldn’t arrest him because of damn double jeopardy…”

“What’d he do?”

“Amy, he’s a serial killer.”