Tina chatted animatedly on the phone for a few minutes, then put it back in her purse and turned to me.

“My friends want to meet up. Any chance I could catch a ride?”

I smiled. “Sure. I want to check into my B&B, but I can drop you on the way” I smiled.

Tina gave a little pout. “Oh. I was hoping you could meet my friends. And that they could meet you.” she said with a slight trace of dejection.

I shrugged. “Well, sure.... but it really will have to be a quick 'Hi' and 'Bye'... I really have to check into my room.

Tina brightened a bit. “OK. You don't have to stay long. I just want you to meet them and for them to see I'm making fabulous friends while I'm off at school.” she smiled with a wink.

Out of the corner of my eye, I think I saw her father stiffen.

“I'm just going up to my room to change. C'mon. Let me show you my room.” She smiled and reached out for my hand.

I could sense her father looking daggers at me. I didn't know what he knew, but until I found out, I would play it safe. I pulled my hand away with a polite smile.

“I'll just wait here.” I said cheerfully. I felt her dad relax ever so slightly. “Don't be long.” I smiled. Really hoping and praying she would NOT be long.

Ken sat back at the kitchen table and gestured for me to sit. It was probably just hospitality, yet I still couldn't shake the feeling I was being interrogated. And he definitely vibed 'bad-cop'. I guess that would make Tina's mom 'good-cop', but she seemed unaware of her role or anyone elses.

Tina's dad just reclined into the chair back and steepled his fingers on the kitchen table. He stared at me. Expressionless. Unblinking. Not saying anything. Just.... staring. If he was trying to make me uncomfortable, he was wildly successful.

“So, Sue...” He finally broke the silence. “Tell me about this place you share with my baby girl.”

From the tone of his voice, I knew he intended to rattle me. But instead he just confused me. I blinked at him trying to process. And when I failed, I just asked.

“Um. Did you just call me Sue?”

He just sat there. Expressionless. Studying me.

“Why did you call me 'Sue'?” I was really confused.

He just stared.

“I'm, uh... Chloe.”

“Of course you are.” he said quietly, eyes still boring in to me.

I think he was trying to intimidate me somehow, but he was really only getting me more perplexed.

“Tina introduced us when we arrived.” I reminded him. No response. Just that damned stare.

Finally I fished in my purse for my wallet. “Don't you believe me? Do you need to see my license?” I began to open the wallet, ready to show him my never-questioned fake I.D.

He just waved it off.

“Put that away. Did Christina tell you anything about me? Anything at all?”

I nodded.

“Didn't you think when my little girl calls and tells us she's met someone and is moving out of the dorms to move in with them, that I wouldn't at least attempt to do a background check?”

I swallowed hard and nodded. Oh crap. Her dad, the still connected security guy ran a background check on me. I always took great care to leave as few footprints as I could online, but I knew he was ex military and no doubt still had friends in homeland security.... and now that he was a private security guy, he might also have access to people in ...other, sketchier groups who could snoop in places the 'proper authorities' were not allowed. He probably knew all about me. But I was going to make him tell me. I was not going to spill anything. And if he was such a super sleuth, one thing still bothered me.

“So why did you call me Sue?”

I was certain he did it to rattle me, but it backfired. My continued confusion was winding him up.

“Enough with the innocent act. I have a dossier on you as long as my arm. I have no idea how you managed to keep such widespread and public behavior a secret from your own parents. Maybe they're clueless, but I doubt that. Your father's too sharp to be clueless. I presume they're just turning a blind eye. But still, I can't understand how anyone, unless he was clueless, could supply you the means to seduce and corrupt my daughter.” His voice was quiet and menacing as he glared at me.

All I could do was furrow my brow and tilt my head. I knew this guy was trying to be scary, but it wasn't working.

“You're making no sense.” I said, making no attempt to hide my bewilderment. “I must be missing something here because I have no idea what you're saying.”

He narrowed his eyes and regarded me. “Really?” He finally said, nearly under his breath.

It was clear he was trying to out-bluff me. But I wasn't bluffing. I truly had no idea what on earth he as talking about.

“Why can't I believe you?” He said through a tight and ominous smile. “You get your father to set you up in this big house.... far too big for one person... and then you lure my daughter to move in with you.... to seduce her? ...to recruit her?” He near whispered. The quiter he got the more menacing he became.

I just sat there staring at him, confusion on my face. His reaction told me he noticed instantly when I had the 'ah-ha!' moment. Although I don't think he was expecting my wide smile.

I couldn't resist my chuckle. Super-spy did his due diligence, but his intel was faulty.

“My father didn't set me up anywhere.” I tried to dampen my grin, but I was enjoying this.

“I don't know whats in that 'dossier as long as your arm'....” I made gleeful air quotes. “But I'm guessing it's on Zoe....”

Now it was his turn to be confused.

“Zoe Butcher?” I smiled. “Tina's other roommate.... I mean our other roommate? It's her dad's place. Tina told me about it because she knew about my ...less than ideal... roommate situation and she was eager to get away from the dorms. She knew Zoe's dad wanted her to have at least two other roommates, so she asked me.”

Tina's dad just stared at me. Only this time it wasn't that intense inquisitor's stare. He looked like a really disoriented golden retriever.

“It's an easy mistake to make. Chloe. Zoe. God, we sound like members of a 1970s pop group!” I grinned. “Let's start from the top...” I pushed my chair back and stood, extending my hand to the still-sitting Ken.

“Hi. I'm Chloe. Chloe Saville. Ti....Christina's other housemate.”

“Chloe... NOT Zoe....” He kind of muttered. I nodded, and continued beaming my friendly smile, although inside I was wondering just what this guy's game was.

“Chloe.......?” He was still rather perplexed.

“Saville.” I repeated. Still smiling.

“S-a-v-i-l-l-e?” He spelled it out. I nodded again.

“Very good. And on the first try.” I grinned. “Did you ever work for a dictionary?”

He just looked at me. The confusion was fading quickly, and once again the scary face was returning. I was sure before the day was out he was going to have his spies digging up everything they could on ME. And I was hoping I had covered my tracks as well as I tried.

This guy was still creepy, but I wasn't as intimidated as I had been. All his snooping and he seemed completely unaware that his daughter had TWO housemates. So he wasn't infallible. Suddenly I felt a lot more confident that I might be able to keep Chloe apart from Tom.

He regrouped.

“So the three of you live together?”

I nodded.

“What do you know about this ….Zoe...?”

I could hear the air quotes in his voice. I played a hunch.

“You mean Sue?”

His eyebrow shot up and his eyes narrowed. He nodded.

I smiled.

“Ha! I don't know much at all about her. Tina met her at work and told me about the roommate thing. Zoe's dad insisted. She's kind of …..edgy. I got the feeling he wanted her to have positive role models, since from what little I know about her, she seemed to be really bad at finding her own. As for the Sue thing.... I don't know a thing, but you used the name when you thought I was Zoe.... so I figured there was something in that 'dossier as long as your arm'.... so why don't YOU tell ME?” I grinned.

Instantly his body language got very defensive. He leaned into himself crossing his arms and scowled at me. He did not like having the tables turned. He said nothing.

I waited a while, and when it became clear he was not even going to acknowledge anything I said, I plowed forward.

“I'll take that as 'no comment'... whatever...” I smiled dismissively. “I'll just find out for myself. Let's see if my intel is better than yours.”

He twitched. This guy was not happy. But after the way he treated me, I could not care less.

Tina bounced back into the room, looking much younger and more carefree than I was used to. I don't know if it was something unconscious about her being in her childhood home, or if it was deliberate before meeting her old high school friends, but she looked about 17.

“All set! Let's go.” she said breezily as she swooped in to give her father a peck on the cheek. “Bye daddy.” She chirped and spun to her mother who was sorting stuff in the refrigerator, although I really think it was her way of being present but not a part of the room during the conversation between Ken and me. “Bye mom. I'll be back in time for supper.”

Her mom turned to smile and opened her mouth to speak, but Tina cut her off with a grin.

“I promise. I will NOT spoil my appetite.” Tina's mom instantly calmed.

Tina ducked in and grabbed me by the hand. “Let's go!” she chirped as she nearly skipped out of the room with me in tow.

“So what did you guys talk about while I was upstairs getting changed?” Tina grinned. “Did daddy grill you for all the dirt on our 'girls gone wild' house?” She laughed.

I smiled back.

“Actually, he didn't. All he seemed to want to talk about was ….me.”

Tina grimaced slightly. “Sorry. I should have warned you. He gets a little ...overprotective. I don't know whether it's because I'm 'the baby' of the family...” I caught her air quotes in my peripheral vision “...or because I'm the only girl.... but he's always been like that.” Then she laughed. “Oh, God... some of the stuff he did to my dates in high school.... just be thankful you're not a BOY!”

As soon as the words left her mouth, I caught the movement out of the corner of my eye as her hands clapped over her mouth. I could just imagine her mortified expression.

“Oh, GOD!” she exclaimed. “I'm SO.... I mean... I never meant....”

I laughed, which seemed to calm her fluster.

“T....” I said, not realizing at the time that I had never used Zoe's nickname before. “S'okay.” I chuckled. “I get it. And yeah, I'm sure it would have been brutal.... but weirdly, better in ONE way....”

THAT distracted her. I gave it a moment, focusing on my driving.

“....At least he wouldn't have confused me for Zoe.” I laughed.

Now she was really confused. And the more confused she got, the funnier that whole uneasy encounter began to feel.

“What? He thought you were....”

“Apparently he didn't know you have TWO housemates.” I interrupted.

I could feel her staring at me.

“What exactly DID you tell your parents?” I asked.

“Um. I always talked to mom. My dad's not a big phone person. I told her.... I thought I mentioned.... I MUST have told her.... ….didn't I?.....” she muttered to herself.

I caught her shrug in my peripheral vision.

“Well, I don't know whether it's like a game of....” I chuckled at the irony “...telephone...” I grinned “...or what, but your dad seemed to only know about Zoe. And apparently he knows a LOT about Zoe. Or thinks he does.” I grinned.

Tina groaned. “I told him to STOP doing that!” She nearly growled. “Oh, God. In high school I was nearly undate-able! He went all 'background check' on guys who asked me out and freaked the hell out of them. Soon word got out and I was untouchable. I finally came right out and asked a guy who I KNEW liked me. I figured I had nothing left to lose. Finally, he admitted the stories he heard from other guys. I was nice and all, so they weren't talking about me. But the things they said about my dad.... and I knew they were all probably true. Maybe exaggerated a little, but then again maybe not. I could totally see him doing all those things. And at other times and circumstances, I had. My brothers are all still kind of afraid of him.”

I chuckled. “Yeah. He sort of freaked me out at first. But when I realized he thought I was Zoe and had no idea you had another roommate, I realized he was NOT infallible.... and... kind of turned the tables.” I said the last bit almost under my breath.

Tina gasped. “You DIDN'T!!!” I could hear the glee in her voice.

I nodded with a grin. Eyes still on the road. “I don't think he was expecting THAT.” I chuckled.

“Ohmigod! What did he DO???” She laughed.

“Didn't really have time to do much. That's about when you popped back into the kitchen and spirited me away.” I smiled. “But at least now he knows you have two housemates.”

I sensed her nod.

“...And I presume at this moment he's probably preparing his background check on ME.” I smiled.

Tina started to chuckle, which was interrupted by a sharp gasp. “Oh, shit!”

I reached out and squeezed her arm. “Yeah. But don't worry. I spent my life building a firewall between Chloe and Tom. ….And he proved by mistaking me for Zoe that he's not perfect. So I have no reason to doubt that it will hold.” I tried to reassure her. And myself.

We got to the Applebees by the mall and Tina recognized some of her girlfriends cars. I dutifully followed her in and met Becca, Lauren and Susie. Which reminded me. I leaned into Tina and whispered. “Remind me to ask you about Sue.”

Tina gave me a perplexed look as her eyes darted to her friend Susie.

“No. Another Sue. Not here. Something your father said. Remind me later.” I whispered.

Tina nodded and I got to chat with her friends awhile before heading off to my bed and breakfast and getting all touristy.