Introduction to Criminal Investigation was Frank’s first class on Mondays. He climbed the stairs to the second floor, and entered the large classroom, where he found a seat in the middle section, several rows back. Settling into the lecture chair, he dug out the textbook, his pen, and a stack of notebook paper, and was turning to hang his backpack on the seat when a pair of hands suddenly covered his eyes.

"Guess who?" a soft, familiar voice whispered in his ear.

"Megan!" Frank exclaimed, yanking her hands down and whirling about in the chair. "What are you doing here?"

"Whipple teaches two sessions of this class. Identical sessions. I checked with him, and found out that it doesn’t matter which one we go to; the lecture is the same. I just switched lecture times. It fits my schedule okay." She laughed in delight at the surprise and pleasure on Frank’s lean features.

"Sit here, quick, before someone else gets it!" Frank indicated the seat immediately in front of his own. Megan obligingly wriggled through the tight rows of chairs and scooted into the seat just as the professor entered the classroom.

"Good morning, class. Today we are going to cover…."

***

When class was over, Frank and Megan rose with the other students and went out into the noisy hall.

"Do you have anything now?" Frank asked her loudly.

"Uh-huh," she replied, almost shouting to be heard over the clamor. "Chemistry, over in the science building. What about you?"

"Nothing until 1:00. Are you free at lunch time?" He put a hand on her arm and steered her toward the wall, shielding her from the crowd as they walked.

"I have twelve to two-thirty off."

"Want to get together?" Frank abruptly lowered his voice as they exited the building and came out into the bright sunshine. "We could grab some lunch before my one o’clock."

"I’d like that," she smiled, as they hurried toward the science building. Despite Frank’s long legs, he had to stretch a little to keep up with her rapid-fire steps; Megan was in a hurry!

"Where do you want to meet?"

"Why don’t you meet me outside chem class – room 312. We can go over to the student center from there."

"Okay, will do." Feeling daring, he put an arm about her shoulders and gave her a brief hug. "See you at noon."

She nodded and dashed into the science building, quickly becoming swallowed up in the crowd of people streaming inside. Frank followed her with his eyes until she disappeared, then abruptly turned and headed for the library. Might as well put the time to good use, and do some homework. There probably won’t be any time tonight.

***

When Megan emerged from her chemistry class, she found Frank leaning casually against the wall directly opposite the door. He smiled happily when he saw her, and reached for her hand. They strolled slowly towards the student center, where the various cafeterias were located.

Deciding to have something they could take outside, both Frank and Megan chose hamburgers and fries. Frank also got a milkshake, and Megan chose a Diet 7-Up. They went back out into the open air and found a table in the shade where they could be relatively undisturbed.

"Is everything okay for this evening?" Frank asked, as they finally settled down to eat and have some uninterrupted conversation.

"Yes," Megan nodded. "My mom said she didn’t know where we could look that hadn’t already been searched, but we’re welcome to try. She may not be home; sometimes she has to work late. She’s in the personnel office at Bayport Electric, and occasionally they have late meetings." She took a bite of her hamburger. "Mmmm, I was starving! I overslept, and didn’t have time for breakfast."

"Megan – " Frank hesitated, unsure how to proceed. "You haven’t noticed anyone following you, or anything, have you?"

"Following me? I don’t know; I’ve never thought to look!" she exclaimed. Her eyes grew round with alarm. "Why do you think someone might follow me?"

"Saturday night, when Joe and I were listening to Ted Crowley, he told someone to keep a tail on you." Frank told her. "He knows you’ve contacted us, so there may be one on us, too."

"Omigosh!" she whispered. "This is awful!"

"Hey, no big deal; we’ve been tailed before." Frank hastily assured her. He popped a few fries in his mouth, chewing while he tried frantically to think of something to allay the panic he’d managed to induce with two short sentences. "Actually, you may have been followed before now, if Crowley and his friends think there’s something at your house that they want. And nothing happened to you."

If anything, that made her look even more frightened. "But I don’t have anything!" she wailed.

"Actually you may, but you don’t know what or where it is," Frank said aloud. "And we’re going to find it tonight. But I wanted to warn you to be extra careful, and keep an eye out when you drive anywhere. As long as you don’t do something they consider suspicious, you’re probably not in any danger.

"But – what about you?" she asked in a small voice. She bent over her soda and took a long drink, keeping her eyes on the glass.

"Like I said, it isn’t the first time. And I think the same holds true for us: if we don’t look like we’re going somewhere suspicious, we won’t be bothered."

"Coming over to my house will look suspicious." Megan reminded him.

Frank smiled. "Not necessarily," he murmured, and traced a design on the back of her hand with his finger. Glancing up, he caught her eye, and held her blue-green gaze with his until she blushed and smiled in return.

"It will if you bring Joe – well, maybe not, if Vanessa is there too." she conceded.

"See how well it works out?" Frank remarked smugly. "To the average eye, we’re getting together for a double date – which, by the way, is not all that bad an idea, once we’ve cleared up this problem with Ted Crowley."

"Better watch out, I may hold you to that." she threatened, eyelashes fluttering.

Frank was about to continue flirting in this fashion when he happened to glance at his wristwatch. "Oh, nuts, I’ve got to go to class!" He shoved the last few fries in his mouth, leaped to his feet and grabbed his backpack. "See you in Criminal Justice!"

Megan watched him go, smiling a little. She looked down at the hand he had been stroking, and touched it gently.