Joey was alone at home, sat in his sitting room, going through documents he had gotten from Ben's house. Everything from birth certificate to passports and old letters, he was scrutinizing them in search of something catchy that might be useful in the search for his friend's kidnappers. Whatever he finds, he would forward it to the PI for closer observation and investigation.
So far, the case was stagnant and there had been very few useful clues, all of which had turned up nothing. It did not help that there were neither known witnesses nor street cameras in Ben's area, so they had absolutely nothing about the abductors, except for shoe prints that were practically untraceable due to the utter strangeness. He was looking admiringly at a ten-year old postcard that Ben's then girlfriend had sent him from Paris when he heard a knock on the door. He wondered who it was. He had very few friends, most of whom hardly ever visited his house and since one of them had just been kidnapped... he stole softly to the door and waited for the second knock.
It came - angry and impatient. Well, that didn't sound like the knock of a person wishing to do him harm. As far as he knew, someone with evil designs would be patient and calm. So he opened the door, slowly. But the sight that met his eyes almost made him groan out loud. Right in front of him was his worst nightmare. He had thought she was gone for good!
"Happy to see me?", Lisha asked, cocking her head with a stiff smile.
"Um.. well, you're welcome," Joey shrugged in resignation.
"Thank you."
She stalked in and he closed the door after her. With a sweeping glance at her surroundings, she sighed and suddenly turned around to face him.
"I need a car."
"Uh?", Joey was clearly taken unawares.
"I said, I need a car."
"Wh.. why do you need a car?", he asked, befuddled.
"To make use of it, of course."
"For what use exactly?"
"What else are cars used for if not for transportation," she retorted.
"But where are you transporting to? And more importantly, can you even drive?"
"Would I ask for a car if I didn't know how to drive it?"
"But how? You've never been on the land prior to a few days ago."
"Oh God of the sun," Lisha exhaled in frustration. "Are you going to give me a car or not? Just let me have the keys to Ben's car and I'll gladly leave you alone."
"Okay. Fine. But is your mother aware of..."
"Of course, she is! Just let me have the damn car!"
"Okay okay, calm down. You can take mine."
"Thank you," she hissed, snatching the keys from his hand with so much force that he almost tripped. He watched in wonder as she marched out of his house, wondering how on Earth her family managed to cope with her.
A minute later, he heard the harshest revving of an engine that he had ever heard in his short life. He rushed to the window, just in time to see his car flying away from the area with a speed that he never thought was possible!
***
Lisha sat patiently and quietly in the car, waiting for her quarry. It was dark and if the time on Joey's console was anything to go by, she was only a few minutes early. She kept her eyes focused on where she knew they would surely land. Minute after minute, she waited. Uncommon patience and calmness were her watchword tonight, even though they were alien to her character. Aha! the unmistakable splash, and she knew at once that they had arrived. She watched keenly as they made the quick transformation to humans and this time, she counted an unusual two, instead of three. Perhaps the third one was sick? Either way, the fewer the better. She waited till they had donned clothes and followed them with her eyes till they reached the main road. It took them less than a minute to find a taxi and as they boarded it, she started Joey's car.
*****
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*****
Joey had just returned from his visit to his PI friend who was handling Ben's case. A threatening letter from someone named Jayden that Ben had received some years ago was what he had taken to the PI. But unfortunately, that was the only presence of Jayden anywhere in Ben's files and he knew no mutual friend of theirs with such a name. The next line of action, which he did not intimate to the PI, would be to find out if Tara knew anyone by that name in Ben's circle. But he wouldn't need to send messages through bottles or anything, since Lisha was already here on the land. Hopefully, she would drop by and see him before going back to the water. Speak of the Devil! Lisha stalked into his apartment through the open door. She was a little ruffled, but that was not surprising to Joey, giving her problematic nature. She walked up to him and handed him his car keys, dropping them into his hands without a word.
"Thanks," he said, nodding in appreciation.
"You can go get it in the morning. It's somewhere near the bridge."
"What?", Joey asked, clearly puzzled.
"The car, of course. It crashed into something and then ran out of gas. I had to leave it behind and take a taxi. But since I didn't have any money, the taxi guy took my earrings. So I'll need some money to get my earrings back."
"Oh God," Joey moaned, slumping down on a sofa. "I knew it was a bad idea to let you have that car. Why was I so stupid to give it to you?"
"Are you going to stay there, crying and moaning all day?", Lisha demanded with a scoff. "Just give me the money and then you can go back to moaning."
"I don't have any money, okay?!", Joey yelled, jumping to his feet.
"Look here, freck...," he stopped himself just in time and breathed deeply to calm his nerves. "Lisha or whatever your name is, do you have any idea.. how much I bought.. that.. car?!"
"How's that my business?"
"But you just went and crashed it, young lady! And when the police comes to find it there at first light, they'll tow the damn thing away and make sure they take off my bollocks before I can get it back!"
"So?"
"Yeah! So? So because you probably have never seen a tow truck in your entire underwater life, that's why all I've just said sounds like Greek to you!"
"Whatever. Just give me the money for the taxi before that madman leaves with my earrings," Lisha hissed.
"Ha! Right. Keep waiting for the money."
Joey sat back down on his sofa, picked up the remote control and turned on the TV. He was angry enough to knock anyone and anything to pieces and he didn't care how any mermaid was feeling. But suddenly, Lisha marched forward and grabbed his Xbox, pulling it from the glass shelf beneath the TV and disconnecting any and everything within her reach.
"Woah woah woah! Hold on, hold on. You'll get your money right now. Just give me a second, okay? One second."
"I'm waiting," Lisha replied, holding on to the Xbox.
Joey grabbed his coat and went through the pockets, searching for his wallet. When he found it, he pulled out as many bills as he could grab and handed them to her. When she had taken possession of the money, she let him have the Xbox. Joey breathed a huge sigh of relief as he watched her leave to go pay the cabman, who clearly was in no hurry, due to the value of the possessions he had seized.
When Lisha came back to his apartment, she had her earrings on.
"Where's the change?", Joey demanded.
"What change?"
"You walked out of here with nothing short of five hun..."
"Well, the meter had been running while we had been fighting," Lisha shrugged.
"Oh God," he moaned, putting his head in his hands.
"But that's far less than the cost of your game box."
Joey didn't reply, so she sighed and made for the door.
"I'm going back home," she flung over her shoulder as she went.
"Hey wait!"
She came to a halt and turned to face him.
"Um.. do you know anybody by the name of Jayden?"
"Several."
Joey was taken aback. Was this the same person whose mother said had never been to the land before?
"Why do you ask?", she questioned when he remained silent.
"We.. well, I was asking for my friend, Ben. We're looking for a friend of his named Jayden."
"I don't know any of Ben's friends. Maybe you should ask Rana."
"Who's that?"
"My sister, his fiancee."
"You're going home, right? Great. You can just ask her. Te..."
"I'm not your asking service. Good night."
With that, she turned and stalked out of the apartment.
"Hey hey, hold on," Joey called, running after her and catching up with her on the balcony. "Look, I'm talking about your sister's fiancé, you know."
"Yeah, I know."
He shook his head with a sigh of frustration.
"See here, fre.. Lisha.. all you have to do is ask her if she knows anybody called Jayden and..."
"And I said, I'm not an asking service. What happened to you hunting for empty bottles, filling them with paper and sending them to my good-for-nothing-but­-catching-bottles sister?"
"But you were the one who volunteered to stay behind and relay..."
"I agreed to stay behind to gather important updates for Mother. I did not agree to gather irrelevant questions for my sister. Look, I'm running late. Goodbye."
"This is an important update too, you know," he shouted after her. "I'll send a message to your sister to tell your mother that you refused to relay something that might hold the clue to finding Ben!"
But he was only talking to himself. Lisha was already making her way down, without any indication that she could hear him.