First Case

Richie & Libby

Before opening the door to Richie's office, Libby took a deep breath. They were friends, but she was trying to look and be a little more professional today. She had actual business with him.

Walking in, the first thing she noticed was that Miss Peeg wasn't in. She didn't hear any voices or anything, but she knocked lightly on the frame of the doorway that separated the front office from Richie's. "Anybody home?"

Richie was on the phone and held up his and a for a moment until he completed his call. “Hey Libby, what brings you in here?” His phone rang again and he looked at the incoming number and ignored it, “Miss Peeg’s playing nurse today, my former father in law’s had a heart attack and she’s got him all tucked up at her place. Have a seat…take a load off,” he grinned.

She sighed, returning his grin. Hopefully, this wouldn't be anything difficult between them. "Miss Peeg as nursemaid?" she asked doubtfully. "The man wouldn't dare not get well!"

Sinking into one of the chairs in front of his desk, Libby took a long look at him. He looked so good. As handsome and sexy as ever. Mentally shaking herself, she said, "So, how was your holiday?"

Richie thought she looked good, but then she always did, “It was too short, seemed like Michael just got here and I was taking him back to the airport. It was good though, he liked the house and wants to come back for a month in the summer when he’s out of school…we marked it on the calendar. How was yours?”

Michael. It was nice he'd been here. "I'm glad he liked it." She smiled at him. "And that he wants to come back. That'll be great for both of you."

"The holiday was okay." She shrugged. "I got a lot of things done at the house. Between that and studying, it seemed as though the holiday was gone in no time."

“Are ya still studying with Frank?”

Grinning, Libby answered him. "I'm not sure studying 'with' Frank is something you do. You just study 'for' Frank." She let out a low whistle. "He's like a drill sergeant! You do something over and over and over again until he's satisfied with it. I used to think I had college professors who were bad!"

Richie chuckled, “I’m not sure I want to take credit for this but um I taught him everything I could and tutored him through his classes at night after he got out of the pen. I don’t recall him complaining so he must have picked up a new technique.”

"So you're responsible for all this!" She looked at him with mock indignation. "I'll get you for that, Richie Roberts!"

It was good to laugh with him like this again, Libby thought to herself. It was something they hadn't done in awhile and she missed it. Then, she remembered the main reason for coming here.

Her eyes gleaming mischievously, she pulled a card from her pocket. "But the studying did go well," she told him. "So well that I've got this now." Proudly she handed him the card. It read 'Elisabeth Tyler: Private Investigator'.

Richie took the card and looked at it for a moment and looked up smiling, “PRIVATE Investigator…is this for real? Elisabeth Tyler, well, well are you for hire?”

"For investigations, yes," she teased him. "Anything else is, uh--negotiable." God, it was good to play around with him like this again.

Richie kept the grin on his face, “So you’re in business…okay I might have something for ya if you think you’re ready, um there’s a guy I’d like to find out about,” he dug around on his piled up desk and pulled out a folder, scanning through it he pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to her, “Goes by the name of Barth he’s somebody that a client of mine met in a bar, the name of the tavern is on the sheet. I just want to know who he is…that’s all, who he is and where he came from and what he does for a living.” He sat back in his chair and watched while she read over the sheet.

All business now, Libby looked at the information. It wasn't much. Just the name 'Barth', a brief description of the man, and the name of a bar in Coffs. She knew where it was. She'd been there before.

She looked questioningly at Richie. "Do you know if he hangs out there very much, or if that was just a one-time thing?"

“Everything I know is on that sheet, he was in there the day my client was and of course he met her there again. She thinks he may be local, a nasty character, Libby don’t approach him just dig around the edges.” He wondered if he could trust her not to approach the dude. “Promise me you won’t approach him, don’t engage him at all not unless Frank is with you…okay?” he tilted his head and smiled.

"I'll be fine, Richie," she reassured him, returning that smile with one of her own. "I'm a big girl, remember? I'll have something for you no later than the end of the week."

Richie couldn’t help but worry about her, “he threatened my client, Libby…I’m serious…okay? Yeah end of the week is fine…no rush you know I’m just curious about him. So is this your first case or am I assuming you can fit this in your schedule?”

She chuckled at the mention of her schedule. "Oh, yeah, I think I can fit it in," she teased. "Yeah, this is my first case." She bit her tongue before she could tell him the obvious joke about him being her 'first'.

Then she turned serious. "And I want to thank you for giving me the chance, Richie. Really."

“Yeah sure, Libby hey I wish you luck with your new career and anytime I got anything for ya I’ll call. You just remember what I said about this guy okay?”

"Thanks. But you better wait and see what kind of a job I do first!" She grinned. "And I'll remember."

Rising to head for the door, she turned around. "How's Nonnie?" Libby had realized that they hadn't even mentioned her, and she thought it would be rude not to ask.

“She’s good, you should go across and visit her store sometime, she said you hadn’t been in.”

"Yeah, I really should do that," Libby said thoughtfully. "I just- Well, I've never been very big on gift shop kinds of places. Maybe I'll go check it out for music boxes, though!" She remembered Christmas Eve, when he'd asked her what she loved, and music boxes had been one of the things she'd told him.

He remembered too, “Music boxes, I’m sure she has a few if not she can get them.”

Standing in his doorway, Libby had an insane urge to at least kiss him goodbye on the cheek. But she managed to restrain herself. "Oh, it's not that I'm after any particular ones that someone can order," she said with a smile. "I just pick one up sometimes. If I think it's interesting, or if I like the song it plays."

Richie stood up and stretched a little totally unaware of the effect he had on her, “Well I’d offer to buy your lunch but I can’t leave the office, I’m expecting a call to come through, Andy’s going to send something over.” He met her eyes for a moment, “Good luck, Libby.”

"I'll take a raincheck." Libby smiled, happy enough that he would even think of buying lunch for her. "And thanks for wishing me luck. Although-" She laughed. "Frank says you have to be good enough so that luck doesn't matter."

“Smart man…wonder where he heard that one,” he grinned, “yeah come by one day and collect on that raincheck...that is if Miss Peeg gets around to coming back to work.”

"I'll do that." Libby was halfway out the door. "I'm sure Miss Peeg will be back soon. If you need anyone to fill in for awhile, I may be available until I pick up some more cases. I've gone on part-time hours at the paper now that I'm trying to get the investigations off the ground."

"I'll see you later, and I'll let you know as soon as I have something on Barth."

“Thanks, Libby and if you need me for anything on this Barth case, let me know.”

She needed him for something, but it had nothing to do with the case, Libby was thinking to herself as she left.