Chapter 7

The blue-white light had faded and in it's place were flashing lights.  Red.  
Blue.  Red.  Blue.  Sam noticed them in his rear-view mirror.  A cop was 
approaching Sam's car, which he noticed was safely pulled off to the side of 
the road. 

"Oh boy."  he muttered.

The cop motioned him to roll down his window.  He had one hand on his gun.  
Sam rolled the window down carefully, not wanting to cause any problems.  "Is 
there a problem, Officer?"

"License, registration, and insurance." the cop requested.

"Ummm... sure.  Let me get them."  Sam looked around the interior of the car. 
 He sure hoped it was his.  He opened the glove compartment and took out the 
registration and proof of insurance. A glance at it told him that the car, a 
1978 Plymouth Duster, was registered to a Jessica A Marchecci.  Uh-oh.  He 
glanced down, and noticed that he was wearing a dress.

The cop was still waiting, so Sam reached for the purse on the seat and 
removed the license from the wallet.  With a tiny measure of relief, he 
noticed the same name on the license.  He glimpsed the photo, before handing 
all three items to the cop.  At least the car wasn't stolen.

The sheriff went back to his car to call in the details.  Sam tilted the 
mirror to get a look at his reflection.  It was the same face as he had seen 
on the license.

Sam guessed that this girl was about 22, and had long, curly brown hair, and 
very deep blue eyes.  She was very pretty, and vaguely reminded him of 
someone that he thought he should know.

He dismissed that thought for now.  He wondered what he had done, and where 
the heck was Al?  As he straighted the mirror, two things caught his 
attention and the same time.

The first was a sound.  Just a whimper, a slight cry.  The second was the 
carseat reflected in the mirror.  A look at his hands showed no wedding ring. 
 I'm an unwed mother, he thought.

The baby started to whimper, and Sam guessed a very young infant, by the 
sound.  The baby couldn't be more than a month or two old. 

Sam studied the reflection of the cop.  He was still talking to dispatch and 
waiting.

Sam wanted to get out and check on the baby, but he figured he would wait for 
the cop to finish first.  He reckoned he might as well deduce as much about 
this new leap as he could.

He watched some of the cars go by.  Mid to lated 80's were the newest models 
he saw.  It was a clear, warm day.  Either late spring or early summer.  The 
air was slightly humid, and it had a faint hint of sea-smell.

Well that leaves out about 30 states, his mind decided.  He must be in one 
near an ocean, and the temperature left out the northern states.  Brilliant 
deduction, Holmes, now where is Watson?  Another glance at his surroundings 
showed some palm trees.

Drop the Carolinas and Virgina.  Could be either California or Florida.  Gee, 
geinus at work, he thought sarcastically, no wonder they sent you to MIT.

The cop came back to Sam's window.  "Do you know how fast you were going?"

Sam answered honestly.  "No.  I'm sorry."

The baby started to fuss louder, and Sam watched the cop write out what he 
assumed to be a ticket.  "You were going 45 in a 35 zone."

"I'm really sorry, Officer.  I'll pay more attention next time."

"This time it will only be a warning.  Next time I catch you, I won't be so 
nice."  He handed Sam the paperwork back with the warning ticket.

"Thank you, Officer."  Sam smiled sincerely.

The officer nodded and returned to his car.  With a wave of his hand he left.

Sam replaced the papers back to the glove compartment, but he kept the 
license out though.  He checked the address.  Florida.  St. Petersburg.  
Well, I was close, he thought.

The infant could no longer be ignored.  She was crying really loudly now.  
Sam got out of the car and opened up the back door.  He sat down on the back 
seat and checked on the baby.  His earlier guess was correct, the baby was no 
more than 10-12 weeks old.  She was crying in fits and bursts.

Sam gently unstrapped her and lifted her out.  It was easy to deduce the 
gender from the light pink dress with matching panties she was wearing.  He 
cradled her in his arms and was careful to support her head.

The baby was now crying and sucking on her fingers.  Sam glanced up at the 
heavens.  "Why did you choose ME for this job?"  The baby answered by crying 
louder.  Sam sighed.  "Ohhhhhh boy."