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Authors: Gary Starta
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correct diminishes.
Well, unless nine out of ten people should agree. Ultimately, it doesn’t really
prove or disprove the arguments. But it makes things more civil. I just don’t
think people should denigrate others. I may still be skeptical of the spirit
world, Iris, but right now, I can only be 50 percent correct in my assumption.”
She laughed. “Good night, Mitchell. I like the way you
argue.” She continued smiling, watching his SUV drive off. She possibly was
slipping as an investigator. She hadn’t noticed until now what his license
plate signified. His plates read: UFO GUY. Maybe I’m not just hooked on this
investigation.
M ITCHELL
GLANCED at the clock as he
dropped into his bed. It was late. It would be even later back east where his
scientist friend, Evan, lived. The Dial was an investigation in itself, and
then there was the crop circle. Better yet, he had an even bigger mystery to
grapple with. Did Iris feel the same way about him as he did her? He believed
there was chemistry, but he couldn’t be sure, just as he couldn’t be certain
about UFOs. He almost flipped priorities and dialed Iris. Instead, he dialed
the phone number he originally intended and waited seven long rings for an
answer.
“Hi, Evan, I’m so sorry to call this late. It’s just that
some events have been occurring lately. I think you should put in for an
emergency sabbatical or whatever you need to do to get out here ASAP.”
Evan grumbled in response, groggy and confused.
“What I’m saying,
Evan, is I think I’m onto something. Remember when we dreamed of experiencing
the investigation of a lifetime? Well, I’m pretty certain I’m on it now.”
Chapter Six
D AN CAMDEN finished gift-wrapping Iris’s present in
spartan décor. Plain pink paper, no bow, and a label-sized card would have to
do . He glanced at it, attempting to keep an emotional distance. He did
have ulterior motives, but he also still had a heart. Dan envisioned a smile
forming on his daughter’s lips as he handed her the present. He would wait for
Iris to arrive home for her lunch hour. Despite her anger toward him, she might
take the gift as a good will gesture.
He peered at his reflection in the rearview mirror. His
eyebrows were knotted tight. He would have to wash away that look of
apprehension if he hoped to put that smile on his daughter’s face and begin a
covert surveillance detail.
Dan realized he was no better than an absentee father. On
the rare occasions his job allowed him downtime, he usually spent it traveling
from Arizona to Colorado to visit Iris and DJ. Iris welcomed the visits,
begrudgingly. She put on a front that she didn’t want him around. But he could
see through her veneer. She was heartbroken he had left the family—twice.
He tried to make it up to her by handing her wads of money stuffed in an envelope
on his visits. She always accepted the financial assistance but with a look in
her eye that screamed: I want a father not an ATM machine. Dan would
have given her money as an early birthday gift last night except a van parked
on the street with the license plates UFO Guy forced him to change
tactics.
Dan never mixed business with his family life. That’s why
both his marriages crumbled. Jill and Doris came to resent his cold exterior.
He could never talk about his job, yet he never seemed to leave it at the door
either. Despite what it took from him, his commitment to a shadow branch of the
government he’d come to fondly regard as the Organization was never in
question. The appearance of what could only be a UFO investigator demanded
attention. It could very well become a threat that might put his daughters in
harm. Yet it could also produce a chance to acquire highly coveted off-world
technology. Either way, Dan would be prepared.
The allure of starting a family had led Dan down this
path in the 80s. The entry level engineering jobs found in the classifieds
weren’t going to pay a mortgage or the
Well, unless nine out of ten people should agree. Ultimately, it doesn’t really
prove or disprove the arguments. But it makes things more civil. I just don’t
think people should denigrate others. I may still be skeptical of the spirit
world, Iris, but right now, I can only be 50 percent correct in my assumption.”
She laughed. “Good night, Mitchell. I like the way you
argue.” She continued smiling, watching his SUV drive off. She possibly was
slipping as an investigator. She hadn’t noticed until now what his license
plate signified. His plates read: UFO GUY. Maybe I’m not just hooked on this
investigation.
M ITCHELL
GLANCED at the clock as he
dropped into his bed. It was late. It would be even later back east where his
scientist friend, Evan, lived. The Dial was an investigation in itself, and
then there was the crop circle. Better yet, he had an even bigger mystery to
grapple with. Did Iris feel the same way about him as he did her? He believed
there was chemistry, but he couldn’t be sure, just as he couldn’t be certain
about UFOs. He almost flipped priorities and dialed Iris. Instead, he dialed
the phone number he originally intended and waited seven long rings for an
answer.
“Hi, Evan, I’m so sorry to call this late. It’s just that
some events have been occurring lately. I think you should put in for an
emergency sabbatical or whatever you need to do to get out here ASAP.”
Evan grumbled in response, groggy and confused.
“What I’m saying,
Evan, is I think I’m onto something. Remember when we dreamed of experiencing
the investigation of a lifetime? Well, I’m pretty certain I’m on it now.”
Chapter Six
D AN CAMDEN finished gift-wrapping Iris’s present in
spartan décor. Plain pink paper, no bow, and a label-sized card would have to
do . He glanced at it, attempting to keep an emotional distance. He did
have ulterior motives, but he also still had a heart. Dan envisioned a smile
forming on his daughter’s lips as he handed her the present. He would wait for
Iris to arrive home for her lunch hour. Despite her anger toward him, she might
take the gift as a good will gesture.
He peered at his reflection in the rearview mirror. His
eyebrows were knotted tight. He would have to wash away that look of
apprehension if he hoped to put that smile on his daughter’s face and begin a
covert surveillance detail.
Dan realized he was no better than an absentee father. On
the rare occasions his job allowed him downtime, he usually spent it traveling
from Arizona to Colorado to visit Iris and DJ. Iris welcomed the visits,
begrudgingly. She put on a front that she didn’t want him around. But he could
see through her veneer. She was heartbroken he had left the family—twice.
He tried to make it up to her by handing her wads of money stuffed in an envelope
on his visits. She always accepted the financial assistance but with a look in
her eye that screamed: I want a father not an ATM machine. Dan would
have given her money as an early birthday gift last night except a van parked
on the street with the license plates UFO Guy forced him to change
tactics.
Dan never mixed business with his family life. That’s why
both his marriages crumbled. Jill and Doris came to resent his cold exterior.
He could never talk about his job, yet he never seemed to leave it at the door
either. Despite what it took from him, his commitment to a shadow branch of the
government he’d come to fondly regard as the Organization was never in
question. The appearance of what could only be a UFO investigator demanded
attention. It could very well become a threat that might put his daughters in
harm. Yet it could also produce a chance to acquire highly coveted off-world
technology. Either way, Dan would be prepared.
The allure of starting a family had led Dan down this
path in the 80s. The entry level engineering jobs found in the classifieds
weren’t going to pay a mortgage or the
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