**************
Suddenly there was the sound of someone on the stairs and everyone turned to see Rollie coming
down from the loft.Sure enough,his hair was still wet from the shower.As soon as Jenna saw him she
began running for him. “Rollie!”She reached him as he got to the lounge and plopped herself down
on the couch. “Your friends are insane,Roland.”He shuffled through some papers he had been
reading. “Yeah,I know.”Leo and Lucinda,who had by know made their way over to the lounge
too,were slightly offended by this comment. “Hey!”They said in unison.Rollie gave them a look and
then went back to his papers. “So Rollie,”Lucinda said as she took a seat in a chair next to the
couch, “Level with me.This brat is your sister?” “I don’t know.” He said,keeping his eyes on the
papers he was looking at.He walked over to Jenna,eyes still down,then took her chin in his hand.He
looked up and pretended to study her face. “Yep.” He said and dropped his hand away from her
face and began over to the mug of coffee he had poured for himself a minute ago.As he walked by
Lucinda she gave him a playful shove. “Rollie!You never told me you had a sister!” He raised the
mug to his lips and took a sip of the hot drink. “You never asked.”Lucinda looked at him. “That’s
not a very good excuse.So,brat,when are you going home so I can have some peace and
quiet?”Jenna quickly looked away,Rollie stopped moving and Leo shifted his weight uncomfortably.
“Her Aunt died yesterday,Luce.”Rollie said. “She was the one who looked after her.”Lucinda’s face
fell. “Oh.I-I’m so sorry.I didn’t know.....”Jenna gave a shuddery sigh. “You couldn’t have
known.”A tear rolled down her face and she quickly looked away from the group.Leo made a face.
“Oh God,” He walked picked up a box of tissues and offered it to her, “Don’t start crying.I’ll never
get you to shut up.”She grabbed the box and pulled out a tissue “Thanks for your
compassion,Leo.”She said,and blew her nose.Rollie took another mouthful of his drink and put it on
the coffee table,where Jenna quickly grabbed it and swirled the remains-half a cup-around.Lucinda
made a face, suddenly realizing something. “So if you don’t go home,you go....”She trailed off and
looked over to Rollie,who sighed,turned around with his arms folded over his chest and leaned
against the cupboard.Jenna quickly took a gulp of the coffee. “Well-”Rollie began,but was
interrupted by his sister _noisily_ spitting the coffee back into the mug she was holding.Rollie
grimaced in disgust. “Jenna!!” He shouted at her. She also made a disgusted face. “Oh my
goodness,Angie was right!”She got up from the couch and walked over to the sink,where she
poured the rest of the drink down he drain while everyone else watched in amusement.Well-except
Rollie.He didn’t think it was very funny. “Who taught you to make coffee?”Jenna asked her brother
before she turned on the tap and began running water over her tongue to try and get rid of the
taste.Rollie sputtered a response that no one could understand.Jenna turned the tap off and grabbed
the coffee cup to rinse it out. “That’s truly disgusting.”Suddenly lightning flashed outside and
everyone looked at eachother. “Isn’t it a little cold for a thunderstorm?”Lucinda said.Leo nodded.
“You’d think so.”Thunder shook the warehouse. “I guess not.”Rollie said.Another flash of lightning
and boom of thunder prompted a whine from somewhere under the sink,right where Jenna was
standing.The girl slowly looked down to see Bluey walking out from under the cupboard.She
screamed and dropped the mug in the sink,efficiently smashing it,before running to the coffee table
and jumping on top of it.In the commotion,the mechanical dog stopped to watch her.Lucinda started
snickering at the girl’s fright. “What is it???”She shouted.Leo glanced at her bemusedly and Rollie
went over to the ‘dog’. “It’s just Blue.He’s my dog.”Jenna looked at the creation warily. “Bluey the
dog?”She said as she stepped off the table and timidly walked over to the robot.Lucinda was still
snickering and Leo was watching the girl with interest.His first encounter with the metal beast,he’d
had a similar reaction.Well-he hadn’t jumped up on a table,but the basic reaction was the
same.Jenna held a hand out to the mechanical canine. “He shouldn’t be Bluey the dog.He’s grey,not
blue.And dogs don’t have six legs.”She picked up Bluey and held him up to eye level. “He should be
called Greyie the bug.”She decided.Rollie plucked the robot from his sister’s hands. “Yeah,but bugs
don’t bark or wag their tails.”More lightening and thunder.Bluey whined again and Rollie set him
down on the floor. “Well,” Lucinda finally said, “as amusing as this visit has been,I’d better get going
if I want to get to the bus stop before it starts pouring.” She stood up and hiked her purse up to her
shoulder. “Bye Rol,Leo.Jenna-”She leveled the girl with a stare. “It was nice to have met you.”Jenna
eyed her warily. “Yeah,You too.” Lucinda walked over to the door and waved to the group.
“Bye,Luce.” Rollie said as she shut the door behind herself.Jenna sat down cross legged on the floor
infront of Bluey. “She’s-interesting.”The girl said.Leo nodded. “That’s just one of the many words
I’d use to describe her.” He said.Rollie started looking around for his mug,remembered that Jenna
had dumped it’s contents and then smashed it,and sat down in the chair that Lucinda had been using.
“So Leo,what brings you here?”He asked the cop. “Well,Rol,you’re not gonna want to hear
this,but-” “You need my help.”Rollie said,cutting him off.He sighed. “Leo,I’d like to help you,I really
would,but-”He glanced at Jenna,then looked back to the man. “I just can’t right now.”The girl
picked up Blue and began to stand up. “I’ll leave you two alone.”She said quietly. “No!”Leo said a
bit too loudly,startling the siblings. “No,Jenna,this concerns you too.”She looked back and forth
between the two men,then set the dog down and resumed her position on the floor.Leo looked at
her and took a deep breath. “We’ve found the bombers to your Aunt’s flight.” Jenna blinked,then
looked down at the floor.Rollie furrowed his brow. “All ready?”The cop nodded. “Yeah,all
ready.He’s in New York.”He looked around,making sure he had the complete attention of his
audience. “They shot our best guy.They shot him.There’s only two men,though.We had the guy
wired,so we know....”He looked at Jenna,who was staring at him sadly,then back at Rollie,who was
listening intently. “They’re gonna blow up another plane.”Leo looked at Rollie,trying to read his
expressions and see if he would do it or not.If he would help him.But Rollie was looking at his
sister,who was looking at Bluey absentmindedly.Finally the Aussie man turned back to the cop.
“How much time do we have?”
**********
