Anada

Alibi

The accident on the interstate had taken up much time, but it was worth it.

We're an hour behind schedule. It's now three o'clock, and it will take about six more hours to reach Portland. If we keep up a constant speed we might get there by nine tonight.

I connected my phone with the bluetooth in the Mustang. Then I called the guys.

The phone rang twice then Westen's voice came through the speakers, "Hey, what's up?"

I said, "Well, we witnessed an accident. It's a long story so we'll tell you about it later."

"Really? I have to hear it." He said excitedly.

Reina quickly said, "Hey, Westen where are you at right now?"

Westen answered, "We're still on the interstate. We'll be in Portland in about three hours. Maybe sooner than that. Where are you?"

"We are also on the interstate. It will take us six hours to get to Portland." Reina said with a sigh.

"Wow, you've got a long way to go."

I said, "Yeah the wreck took up a lot of time."

There was talking in the background then Alex's voice said, "You two don't have to meet us in Portland. You can spend the night in a town then you can meet us in Portland tomorrow."

Reina said to him, "I think we'll do that. We are both tired."

Alex then said, "Okay, you do sound tired. I heard about an accident on the radio. Five cars were involved. Was that the one you got caught up in?"

She answered, "Yes, it was. We'll tell you the whole story tomorrow."

"Bye Reina. Bye Anada." Alex said to us.

Reina and I said our goodbyes then I ended the call.

We drove for three more hours. It was six o'clock when Reina entered a small town. I never saw what the name of the town was though.

We found a hotel, and checked-in. The hotel room was actually very nice. It reminded me of a lakeside cabin. There was a big soft rug in the middle of the room and thick quilts on the beds. The room smelled like fresh cut wood.

Reina said to me, "You should go ahead and take a shower. You're more dirty than me."

She was right. I was dirty, because I had fallen into the lake. It's a good thing that I didn't get the interior of the Mustang dirty.

I took a shower then wore some of my new clothes.

I was also reminded that Elias was gone. He had only left the day before yesterday, but it felt like it had been longer than that.

He'll be back soon.

Reina took a shower too. Then we walked around town together. It was a nice short walk. The evening air was cool, and I could smell the scent of rain which was soon to come.

We went to bed soon after we returned.

I woke to the sound of Reina saying my name. My eyes opened as I sat up in bed. It was raining outside. I could hear it and smell its moisture.

Reina was gathering her things, but we hadn't brought all of our bags inside. I got up and started helping her.

Reina handed me a small peice of metal and said, "Here is the key to our room. Could you take to the office? I'll be in the car."

"Yeah, I'll take it." I said.

There was a porch with a roof that connected the hotel rooms. It shielded me from the cold rain. I hadn't been chilly outside all summer until now.

I returned the key to the lady in the office. Then I met Reina in the Mustang, and we drove away.

It was 7:00am when we left. The car ride to Portland was three hours long.

The guys called us, and told us to meet them at a restaurant in Portland.

We got to the restaurant at 10:30am. The traffic had been backed up. It was slow traveling.

When we got there we were greeted by Neil, Westen, and Alex. They took us into the restaurant to eat.

We all had breakfast, but it was too late for breakfast so it was also our lunch.

I told my story about the accident to the guys. They were pretty amazed. I also mentioned how I fell into the lake. It gave everyone a good laugh.

"So have you talked to Mr.Liam?" I asked Neil after we ate.

Neil answered, "No, I haven't. I was going to call him once you and Reina got here, but I didn't. I think I'll go call him right now."

Neil walked outside with his cellphone in his right hand.

We all went outside ten minutes later, and he was hanging up his phone as we walked out of the restaurant.

"Okay, are you ready to hear what I have to say?" Neil asked us.

"Yes." Everyone said in unision.

He came closer and looked around for anyone who might happen to be evesdropping.

Neil started explaining, "Mr.Liam said that someone in Portland is transporting illegal contraband. He wants us to find out who that person is. Then, if possible, stop him."

"No more traveling?" I asked him.

He says with a smile, "Nope. This is where we start our next mission."

I think everyone was relieved by that.

"So does anyone have ideas about how we're going to find this illegal transporter?" Alex asked us.

Westen cleared his throat, "We should create an abili for ourselves then go around undercover to see what the locals are saying."

"That might actually work." Alex says to him.

Westen looks at him, "You know I was joking, right?"

"Yeah, but it's a good idea. We should really do that, but we need go back to the hotel though." Alex said then walked to the Hummer. It was soon going to rain again.

The guys climbed into the Hummer while Reina and I got into the Mustang. Reina followed the Hummer to the hotel. Rain started to poor down as we drove up to the hotel. The Hummer went into the parking lot that was underneath the hotel.

When we got out of the car our heads didn't get wet, but our feet did. There was some water in the parking area. It wouldn't flood, because there was a drain in the center of the parking lot.

Reina and I pulled our luggage out of the trunk. The guys came over and carried it for us though. I didn't think the bags were heavy, but I'm a dragon so they didn't seem heavy to me.

Alex said to us, "We already booked you a room. It's number 217, and it's next to our room."

We unpacked in our room then met Westen, Neil, and Alex in their room.

"So any alibi ideas yet?" I asked as I came in.

Neil said, "None yet. We can't even think of any names for ourselves."

"Maybe someone could make an alibi for someone else. I could make one for you, and you could make one for me." I said to Neil.

"That's a good idea, Anada." He said approvingly.

For the next hour, everyone made an alibi for someone else. Westen became Mike, Alex became Andrew, Neil became Angelo, Reina became Aubrey, and my alibi was Serena.

If anyone was to get suspicious we would say that we were cousins, and we were here to visit our grandparents.

"Remember not to call someone by their actual name unless your in this room." Alex reminded.

Reina then said, "We've got our names, but how are we going to find this information about the contraband transporter?"

Alex said, "Well, that's why we've got our names. I think it's time to do some investigating."