Her heart running faster than a cheetah, Addy whisked around and turned her vacuum on.
WHEEEE-
The vacuum cleaner sucked on his face. It took a second for Pat to realize what was happening. He propelled his hands forward frantically trying to save his skin which seemed eager to take a trip away from his muscles any moment now. "Stop!" He yelled.
As if on command, the vacuum stopped. "What the f*ck is this?" He asked. Instinctively, Pat patted his face making sure he hadn't been skinned alive.
Addy raised her vacuum up like Rafiki showcasing Simba atop Pride Rock. "This is a tough cub, my dude. It can suck in a week old dried tortoise sh*t, your saggy face is nothing so don't even think about taking a step closer."
Pat took a step closer all the while maintaining his eye contact with the strange lady and scoffed in disdain. His intense eyes then shifted to the little girl behind her. "Prissy," he said. "Care to explain?"
"I'm sorry?" Prissy answered, fright laced on her voice. "Oh you know him? Awkward~" Addy chimed in from the background.
"You're sorry?" His incredulous tone was evident. "I'm sorry too!" Addy whisper yelled from the side only to be ignored by him.
"I know I shouldn't have run off like that without telling you." The kid bit her tongue.
Pat blew out a frustrated sigh. "You knew it but still did it?"
"I thought I would come back before you noticed." Prissy activated her puppy dog eyes.
He crossed his arms. "Really?"
Priscilla gulped knowing too well her uncle had not believed her feeble lies and for once her puppy eyes were ineffective. "Actually, I-I-"
"The truth, Prissy?"
"Okay! I did something you asked me not to." Prissy gave in. "I was looking for snacks like you asked me to but then I saw this guy from the store window walking by and something fell out of his pockets. I shouted for him to pick it up but he didn't notice."
She continued. "So I ran outside to help. The thing that fell off was a teeny-tiny diary. I was about to call out to him when I saw him bring out black gloves and mask and started dressing up like a burglar!"
Pat rubbed his temple. "Let's say I believe you but you had a feeling he was going to do something wrong and you thought it was a fantastic idea to follow him?!"
Dejected, Prissy pouted. "I know… but I couldn't stop myself. I had to make sure and I was right! He sneaked into the zoo through a hole in the wall!"
"And then you followed the man into the zoo?"
His niece gave him a reluctant nod. "I lost sight of him here. This place is huge!"
"I don't know what to say…" Pat was riding through a rollercoaster of emotions- sadness, anger, shame, guilt and relief. He was all over the place.
Addy who was awkwardly standing on the sidelines all this time, finally spoke out. "Prissy, it's interesting that you saw someone sneaking in through the hole." She paused, watching Pat's gaze shifting on her and then turned into venomous glare as if he just remembered she existed. "We might not have repaired the damaged wall yet but we installed three security cameras in that area, making sure no blind spots were present. Our security guards would have alerted us by now if someone would have managed to do so."
"But I got in! Even uncle got in!" Prissy argued back, gesturing at her uncle and herself. "How did we not get caught?"
Her reasoning made sense which got Addy thinking. Did their cameras get hacked or something?
That's when it hit her. Kevin! She had heard one of the senior guards ask Kevin to fill up for a sick guard the day before. He must have been in the surveillance room and she had called him over for help! So, there was a chance no one was present in the security room to check. However, it was unlikely that Kevin was the only one keeping guard, right?
"I also have the man's diary with me." Prissy's words pushed Addy out of her train of thoughts.
"You do?" Pat couldn't help but ask as he took a few steps closer to his niece.
Priscilla nodded and slid it out of her jumper pocket. It indeed was tiny, as big as her hands which were equivalent to the size of a baby orange.
Retrieving the diary from the girl's open palms, Addy held it under her phone's torch. Blood red in colour with a scintillating plastic cover, the diary sure appeared ominous. Gingerly, she flipped it open and breezed through the stark white pages.
"It's empty." She stated, her voice sounding rather disappointed. Then again, what was she expecting to find inside. Treasure map? Voodoo spells? Murder count?
"We should alert the authorities!" Prissy immediately said.
Addy sighed. "Yeah. We should." A lot of things did not match up yet- she still had her doubts. She, however, was not going to sit still like a dummy and do nothing.
"No, we shouldn't!" Pat exclaimed out of the blue, startling both Prissy and Addy. He then glanced at his puzzled niece. "This is enough adventure for the night. We are going home."
"But-"
He cut Addy off. "I don't want Prissy involved in such sketchy business."
"I understand where you are coming from." She replied, attempting her best to be polite and understanding. "But our cameras have recorded you guys during the act of trespassing. You are involved in this even if you don't want to be."
"We will deal with that when we face it. I don't wanna jump into a problem that's not mine." With that, he lifted Prissy up in his arms and walked away, heading towards the exit.
"Wait!" Addy chased after him and grabbed his arm, effectively stopping him from escaping. "I can't let you go like this! My job is on the line!"
Pat shrugged. "Like I said. Not my problem!"
Addy grasped onto his arm tighter. "I won't let go unless you get me a solution. You know what? Give me a way to contact you."
Watching her latch onto her uncle like a koala, Prissy giggled. "420/999 street, Peacock Residence. Uncle lives there. His house is messy but he will not shoo away visitors!"
"Prissy!" Pat cried out in aghast. "You don't share personal information like that!"
Addy stood tongue-tied. She had not expected the girl to be so calm and open about the situation.
"That's it!" Pat stated, shaking his head. "I'm never letting you watch those crime shows again."
Snatching his arm away from her clutch, Pat left with Prissy who waved her a sneaky goodbye. Addy watched them disappear amongst the lush greenery.
She looked down at the diary and the vacuum still in her hands. She had a feeling they would meet again.