Good Chemistry

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Authors: George Stephenson
name really was, had sat and touched the table without wiping the print away.
    The part of Debra that would arrest Johansen was dying, yet the impulse to do so remained strong. A new side of Debra was emerging. It gave her a tantalizing glimpse of what love and happiness could actually feel like. Debra had given up any notion of finding true love long ago. Yet now, not only was her predictable world crumbling around her, the new life Johansen hinted at, turned out to be more alluring than she ever could have admitted to herself just forty-eight hours earlier.
    A civil war was brewing inside Debra. The nice thing about this war was that one of the sides actually seemed to have her best interests in mind for a change. Unfortunately, that was the side inviting her to become a jewel thief. A life-style so far outside her realm of reality as to be downright laughable.
    If that was really the whole of it, why couldn’t she get it out of her mind? Half of Debra vowed to arrest Johansen the next time she set eyes on him. The other half was laughing at the very idea of her locking away the only man she’d met with whom she could envision a future.

Chapter 8
    Five weeks earlier
    “So, are you ready? This is your big day.” Judy grinned at Bernie, who squirmed uncomfortably as she drove them to Andrew’s mother’s house.
    “No! I’m not ready. But, I don’t have any choice. Andrew is talking about going straight over to Alexander’s the instant that he confirms the potion works. He’s so obsessed now, that I don’t think he’s even going to wait and see if there are any side-effects.” Bernie shook her head in dismay. Everything in her neat orderly world seemed to be coming unraveled.
    Judy found the entire situation amusing. Not in any sort of mean way. She was just glad something was finally pushing Bernie to stand up for herself and go after what she really wanted. “Don’t worry, this will all work out fine.”
    Doubt consumed Bernie as she watched Judy putting on her camouflage makeup that matched her outfit.
    “Bernie relax. I’ll be right above you the whole time watching through the skylight. I’ll be there to talk you through this, step-by-step.” Judy waved the tiny earphone in front of Bernie’s eyes to remind her she wasn’t going through the test alone.
    “So, how did you convince him that his parents’ house would be the best place to conduct the test?”
    “That was the easy part. Their house is only two blocks from the hospital, just in case anything drastic goes wrong.”
    Bernie rounded the corner onto Seminole Avenue then turned down the gravel alleyway that ran behind Lewis and Joanna McGee’s house. She stopped a dozen yards out of view of their home. Judy jumped out and stealthily sneaked across the McGee’s backyard. She blended in beautifully while she was crossing the grass, but as soon as she scaled the vine trellis onto the roof, her green camo showed like a spotlight. She looked like a pale yellow and green lizard attacking the house.
    “Testing one, two, three. Testing one, two, three.” Bernie looked up at Judy as she peered over the edge of the skylight. Bernie made an okay sign with her finger and thumb.
    Bernie had quickly said ‘hello’ to Lewis as she entered. The attached garage was a woodworking shop where he spent most of his time. Joanna was down the hall in the kitchen baking cookies for her Daughters of the American Revolution bake sale. Bernie looked around the room nervously. Her eyes darted from one corner to the other, as if she was expecting a monster to jump out at her any second. Her heart began to pound furiously in her chest.
    “God Judy, we may really need that hospital. I think I’m having a panic attack.” She looked up at Judy with pleading terror-filled eyes. This was the highest level of anxiety Bernie had ever felt in her life. “I can’t do this . . . let’s call it off,” Bernie whispered softly into the tiny earpiece hidden by her

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