Of Witches and Wiccans — A Halloween Story Compilation

by Peter Argonis

©2011, 2012, 2016, 2019, 2026

Between 2011 and 2019, I wrote four Halloween-themed stories for contests held at storiesonline.net, all of witch (😉) were quite well received by readers. Now that the season to be scary is upon us again, I have compiled them into a single volume, hopefully for your enjoyment. I hope that they still compare well to the entrants in the 2026 contest!

 

The stories:

Witch Eyes

Nosy Witch

Constable Hereward and the Popish Maid

Good Advice From the Afterlife

 

Witch Eyes

Luke Braun, computer hacker and prankster, meets Katie, his dream girl, during a night of trick and treating. One of his pranks backfires, and he loses contact to her. At Halloween, seven years later, she shows up at his door with a trick of her own that turns his life upside down. Winner of the 2011 Halloween Writing Contest

First published: 2011-10-30

Revised: 10/2026

© 2011, 2026

The Chapters:

Witch Eyes

1 - Mischief and Hash Brownies

2 – Whistleblower

3 - The Girl With The Green Eyes

4 - Daddy

5 - Amy

6 - Poop-head

7 - Highland Scotch

8 - Punch Line

9 - Treat!

10 - An End To Meddling

 

1 - Mischief and Hash Brownies

"Hey, Luke, stop fiddling with that laptop," John Daniels shouted from the hallway. "What are you still doing? We've got to go if we want to make a good haul."

"Yeah, yeah," Lukas Braun called back. "Five minutes. I'm almost there."

"What the hell are you doing anyway?"

"Leaving a little Halloween surprise on the Dean's computer," Lukas chuckled.

"Tell me you're not!" John came into the room. "They almost caught you last year when you hacked Professor Parker's laptop."

"Well, almost is the operative word."

"You'll get us both in trouble!" John complained, leaving Luke's room.

"Dean Lawrence is watching porn in his office," Luke yelled after his roommate. Realizing John was gone he kept mumbling. "Easy-peasy. He's still got Win 2000 with all the ports open; can you believe it? And here we go! Lemme send him a little greeting now. Oops, what's that? One second."

Luke opened a drawer and found a USB thumb drive. It was a big one, a 32 MB Trek, out only for a few weeks. Luke was leery of downloading a file folder from the Dean's computer onto his own hard drive. It took a few seconds to appear in the directory, but then Luke transferred three folders to the external drive.

"And done! Some light reading for tomorrow," he chuckled. Snooping on the dean's computer was a real kick.

He pulled the thumb drive from his laptop and tossed it into the old tin can that held his pens. He jumped from his chair and ripped open the wardrobe. In just five minutes, Lukas Braun transformed into a very credible Merlin the Wizard, complete with a wide wool coat and fake beard.

Soon after, he and his suite mate John, who had dressed up as a Goth vampire, hit the residential streets surrounding the campus. Many students were on the streets in varying degrees of masquerade, but their friends with whom they had wanted to go either were no-shows or had already left. Grumbling to Lukas about his tardiness, John led the way to their hunting grounds.

The many people living in the single family homes in walking distance from the campus were used to the annual invasion of their front yards by more or less sober students, some of whose talents were limited to a hastily uttered "Trick or Treat?" before they collected the treats. Some were stumped when house owners boldly asked for "Trick".

John and Luke had done this before in their sophomore and junior years, and they had perfected their act. John's fake fangs looked real enough to scare young children, and Luke had a few tricks up his sleeve that could impress the layman. They even found one mother opening the door and attempted to flirt, at least until a husband showed. It was fun.

They had been scouring the neighborhood for a half hour and were turning a corner into a side street, when they saw two other trick'n treaters leaving a driveway. Two girls, a medium sized slender one dressed up as a witch and a tall blonde sporting a daring Elvira, Princess of the Dark, costume. The witch had red hair and a freckled face. Gorgeous! Lukas assumed his best Merlin persona.

"Greetings to you, Worthy Witch! I am Merlin, sorcerer of the Great King. Are you by chance the famed Morgaine Le Fay?"

"No, oh mighty wizard!" the girl returned, fighting a giggle. "Kate is my name, and my powers are but small."

"Yet, you bewitch me with nary more than the look from your green eyes," 'Merlin' answered. That was no lie. She had captivating, pale green eyes that seemed to look into his very soul.

Kate the Witch smiled back at him, obviously enjoying the banter, but also keeping her eyes locked on him. "Nay, mighty wizard. You must per chance have quaffed a love potion whilst experimenting."

"Cut it out, you two!" John laughed. "Good pickings here?"

He meant the house the girls had just left.

'Elvira' shrugged. "Just candy bars, but we got really good brownies from an old hippie lady down the road. Care for one?"

The two young men accepted cookies while they walked together to the next house.

"Okay, Luke. Get your trick bag ready!" the John nudged his partner.

Kate looked at Lukas. "Ooh! A trick bag! Say mighty wizard, are you fooling the poor, ignorant mortals?"

Lukas grinned back at her. "Some are not easily convinced of my powers. Those, I have to dazzle. Would you like to be dazzled?"

Kate shook her head. "You may not be a wizard, but you are dangerous."

John interrupted the exchange. "Hey, will you girls join us? We can do this together. It's more fun."

"Sure," 'Elvira' gushed, eying John the Vampire with obvious interest and leaving Katie no chance to object. "I'm Linda, she's Katie."

John bowed with a flourish. "I am Count Johannes of Transylvania," he introduced himself with a horrible Eastern European accent. "I am traveling with the Mighty Merlin who was resurrected from the Ruins of Avalon."

The girls giggled while the two guys rang the bell and did their shtick. Luke performed a little magic trick for the two kids, and not three minutes later they retreated with a bag of treats.

They did the next houses together, in between munching cookies and chatting. The girls were certainly having fun, giggling and babbling, and even though he felt a little lightheaded himself, Luke was able to connect the dots. A great big lightbulb went off in his head. This was Northern California after all.

"Shit! You know what I think?" he blurted. "I think that freakin' hippie bitch gave you hash brownies."

Somehow, Katie the Witch found that hilarious, and she doubled over in laughter. Luke could not help but laugh with her. Weak from laughter they held on to each other while John the Vampire gave Linda his most sultry look.

"That explains the munchies," he grinned. "I guess I'm gonna nibble some on you. You look tasty."

He stumbled forward and tried to reach Linda's neck. Giggling but definitely aroused she pushed him back.

"Shit, let's go back to the dorms before we get picked up by the cops."

They headed back then, but Lukas hoped that the evening wouldn't be over. He just opened his mouth to suggest they continued the evening together when Linda beat him to it.

"Let's go to our place and order pizza," she suggested, a suggestion that was met with unanimous approval.

Linda and Katie shared a suite. A tiny living room with a TV, a small bathroom, and two dingy bedrooms barely big enough for a bed, a wardrobe and a small desk. The sofa in the living room looked ancient but was surprisingly comfortable as Lukas soon found out. He and Katie gravitated to one corner while John sat with Linda. Stoned he was, but the attraction he felt for Katie seemed very real.

—————

Katie felt great. There was no other word for it. She was snuggled against Luke and she felt his left hand on her upper arm as he held her tightly. The pizzas had arrived and were history. Linda and John had retired to Linda's room, while Lukas and Katie had switched on the TV. They had picked a rerun of the third Harry Potter movie, but they hardly watched it. They just talked. Katie felt like she could talk about everything, and Luke listened with a goofy smile on his face.

She was babbling, and she would have continued for the entire night but for Luke suddenly taking hold of her face and kissing her. At first she squirmed trying to get loose, but then she gave in and melted against him. He smiled at her.

"Katie?"

"Y-yes?"

"You are the sweetest girl I've met in my life."

Katie giggled. There was enough of the Mary Jane in her system to reduce her inhibitions.

"You're trying to get into my pants with that sweet talk, and I'm telling ya it may work. You're full of shit, but I don't care. Let's go to my room?"

"Is that the hash brownies talking?" he asked earnestly. Being forty pounds heavier he was not as affected by the THP as Katie was.

She shook her head. "No. I'm just havin' this really nice dream where this cute guy tries to get my cherry. Just let me enjoy this dream a little more."

"You're still cherry?" Luke asked with a touch of alarm.

"Naaah! Don't worry. I just pretend I am. God, I wish I was. The guy who took my cherry was such an asshole afterwards. You're not an asshole, are you?"

"I try not to be," he answered giving her a soft kiss on her lips before he stood and pulled her up from the sofa. She leaned into him and turned up her face.

"Just don't make fun of me tomorrow, will you?" she begged.

"Fun of you?"

She nodded. "You know, telling the other guys and stuff. How I'm not a good lay."

"Somebody said shit like that before?"

She nodded, unable to meet his gaze.

"Jeez, what a stupid motherfucker!" His hand forced her chin up. "Katie, I'd love to spend the night with you. Let me show you how much I want you."

With that, he pulled her towards the far side of the living room. There was the bathroom, and Katie found a new toothbrush for Luke in a cardboard box under the wash stand. They brushed their teeth side by side, exchanging looks via the mirror. Katie used moisture cream and tissues to remove her witch makeup. Then it was time. She led Lukas to her bedroom.

With apprehension, Katie opened her corsage and stripped off her blouse and skirt. Opening the waistband, she let the skirt fall down her legs and into a puddle around her feet. She stepped out, wearing nothing but wool stockings and cotton panties. Bending over, she peeled down the stockings.

Luke had been stripping off his garments, too, but when he saw Katie in just her panties, he stopped and shook his head.

"God, you're so beautiful!" he exclaimed in a husky voice that sent shivers down her spine.

He nearly fell over his own pants in his hurry to get over to where Katie stood. Then she was in his arms, feeling his naked belly against her own boobies. His hands wrapped into her red curls, pulling her face up for another burning kiss. She moaned into Luke's mouth when her breasts rubbed against his torso.

Somehow, they stumbled backwards and fell onto the bed with Luke landing on his back and Katie sprawled over him. His hands held her under her arms and he pulled her upwards until his mouth could reach her boobies. They were on the small side but pointy and sensitive, and Katie squealed when his lips closed over the tiny pink nipples.

Katie's experience with boys or men was limited both in numbers and quality. Apart from the loudmouth who had trash talked her with his buddies on the morning after, there had been one more awkward encounter in a backseat during her sophomore year when she'd had a little too much beer. She knew that she was sensual but her libido suffered somewhat from her lack of experience.

Of course, there had been Matt, Matt Carver, her on/off boyfriend since freshman introduction. Well, maybe not boyfriend. He just persisted in a half-ass boyfriend-sort-of-way. Well, that was over. She had made it clear to him three weeks earlier that there was no future for them. She had never felt trust enough with Matt to go beyond kissing and perhaps some touchy-feely.

Now with the THP in her blood, she gave in to the delicious feeling emanating from her titties. Relieving some strain from Luke's arms, she supported herself over his feasting mouth allowing her lover's hands to roam freely over her back and further down.

She squealed again when Luke's exploring fingers ran under her panties, along the crack of her ass and straight for her lubricating pussy. God, she was sopping wet! She hunched lower, rubbing her crotch against the bulge in Luke's jockeys. He humped her from below adding to the friction, and she began to seriously grind her pelvis against his boner. She felt that the overwhelming need to be filled was overriding all other considerations, and she pulled her breast away from his mouth. She scooted down and looked down into his eyes.

"Take me!" she whispered. "Please, take me now!"

She saw the doubt in his eyes and she had to smile.

"Please! I need you now!"

She felt how his hands pushed down his own Jockeys before he hooked his thumbs under the waistband of her panties. She wiggled her butt to help him, and soon she pushed them down the rest of the way, using her own toes. Breathing in, she aligned her wet opening with the swollen tip of his cock before she exhaled and sank down. Ouch! Too tight! Much too tight! Wet as she was, this thing did not fit right away.

"Easy, Katie. Take your time!" he whispered to her, his one hand on her hip while the other caressed her face and pulled back her hair. "God, you look beautiful!"

The warm rush she felt at his words made her relax, and with the next attempt, the tip of his cock gained perhaps an inch inside her. She breathed deeply to relax, but she felt as if she was bursting at the seams of her pussy. With just two sexual encounters to her credit, her pussy was in no way used to being stretched that wide and it took some willpower to continue in her quest. Yet, for perhaps ten minutes she persevered until her pussy lips finally rested on the wiry curls at the base of Luke's member.

"Ooof!" she giggled, still breathing deeply.

"God, Katie, you're so tight!" he moaned under her.

"I… haven't… done… this… in a… while," she panted, trying minuscule movements. "Only… twice… anyway."

"Katie?"

"Yessss?"

"You feel wonderful," he said through gritted teeth. "I won't make it much longer."

"Nooo! Wait! Not now!" she pleaded, not wanting to end the experience just yet.

"Katie, kiss me please!" he asked her, pulling her down already.

Their lips met again, and Katie lost herself in the play of their lips and tongues. Squealing and whimpering, she let him ravage her mouth, probing it with his tongue and sucking on hers, nibbling on her lips and raining kisses over her face. A dam burst inside her then, and she felt herself melting under his kisses. Suddenly the feeling of being stretched gave way to the feeling of being deliciously filled. His member moved easily inside her now, with the walls of her pussy relaxing, and he humped against her from below, pulling out and pushing in, pulling out and pushing in.

"Luke!" she gasped into his mouth. "Don't stop!"

"I'm trying," he squeezed out.

Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted and turned, and now he was hovering over her, his dick still hard inside her pussy and his hips forcing her legs wide apart.

"Omigod!" she wheezed feeling the deep penetration.

She felt the air squeezed from her lungs with each of his deep strokes. Desperately, her hands clawed at his back trying to pulled him closer, deeper inside her. He gave her stroke after stroke, hesitating at the apex and then plunging down. Each downward thrust was greeted by a wail now as Katie's lungs and voice chords slipped from her conscious control and became hardwired to her pussy. Pull out, plunge down! Pull out, plunge down!

From somewhere she registered Luke desperate moan, and then she felt his member pulsing inside her.

"Oh, God! Katie!" he cried.

She felt it then, his passion, his passion for her. Her hearing became muffled, her breath short, and then a big hot wave washed away any conscious thought. Nothing counted anymore, only being close to Luke was important, and so she clung to him with all her strength while his hips jerked against hers.

She returned from la-la land feeling his weight almost crushing her. She felt wiped out herself.

"Jeez!" she panted. "Where have you been before tonight?"

She felt his shrinking penis being pulled from her pussy as Luke supported himself with his arms and dropped down at her side.

"I was out there looking for a girl like you," he answered and closed his eyes. "God, Katie! Only twice? How good will you be when you have experience?"

She giggled and played with the blonde curls on his chest. "So I was good?"

"Good doesn't come close. Katie, I want to learn more about you. I want to spend more time with you." She grinned and he protested. "No, not just in bed. I want... Wait! Are you interested in being... with me?"

For an answer, she just snuggled close. "Oh, yeah... What's your last name anyway?"

"Braun, Lukas Braun," he answered, not thinking to ask for hers.

"Lukas Brown. I like it."

"I'll just keep calling you Katie. Do you know that you have the most stunning eyes?"

"Flatterer. Do you have to leave, or can you stay the night?"

"What? And leave you alone? No way! Katie, you're stuck with me."

"You want to clean up?"

"Yeah, why don't we," he agreed, and they scurried over to the bathroom, cleaning their private parts.

There was an awkward moment when they left the bathroom naked and almost ran into Linda who had just locked the apartment door.

"Did John go already?" Luke asked surprised.

"Yeah, he has to get up early he said," Linda explained shrugging her shoulders.

Back in Katie's room, Luke sighed. "I'll have a talk with John. That wasn't nice of him."

Katie nodded. "That's why I always pick wizards over vampires."

—————

Luke woke up with a very cuddly girl snuggled close, and it had to be his best wake-up ever. He marveled at her. She was a natural redhead, that much was certain. Her very light skin was showing freckles on her shoulders and her upper chest, but also on her nose and cheeks.

Suddenly those pale green witch eyes opened and engulfed him. The eyes must have liked his thoughts because they widened in a happy smile.

"Good morning," she purred.

"Good morning, Katie," he answered, stroking her copper red hair. "You're even more beautiful in the morning."

She was a major blusher. She hid her face against his chest, but not for long.

"Luke, I hate to run you off, but I have a class at nine-thirty. Can we meet for lunch?"

Luke felt a little disappointment. He had hoped for an encore. He managed a smile though.

"As long as you agree to see me again..." Her eyes told him, yes. "I'll be gone. I have to shower and to get ready myself. Half past twelve at Commons?"

"Yes, but kiss me first!"

He complied, leaving them both a bit breathless and confused.

"If you don't go now, we'll miss all our classes today," Katie panted.

He kissed her nose. "We can't have that, can we? I'll be out of your hair in a sec."

"Will you be there?"

He took her face in both hands and kissed her again. "Katie, I'm crazy about you. There's no getting rid of me!"

He found his clothes and dressed quickly. The wizard hat and trick bag, he stuffed into a plastic shopping bag Katie gave him, but he still felt goofy wearing the wool coat. After one more kiss, she let him out of the suite.

Lukas returned to the dorm almost waltzing on air. Katie! Simply saying the name made him smile. Such a sweet girl, so cute, so utterly lovable!

He fairly ran upstairs to the second floor suite he was sharing with John. The door was slightly ajar. Probably John had returned briefly to pick something up. Luke stepped through the door and suddenly the wonderful morning turned into a nightmare. As soon as he stepped in, he was roughly pushed against a wall and then, to his horror, handcuffs closed around his wrists.

"How nice of you to come home, Punk!" a voice sounded, and Luke could see the corpulent figure of Captain Pomona, the chief of the campus police.

"What the..." Luke started to protest.

"Shut up, Punk! Where is it?"

"Where is what?" Luke asked flabbergasted. A second later, he screamed. Somebody behind him was bending his cuffed arms upwards behind his back causing a stinging pain.

"I asked you a question, Punk!" Pomona spat, shoving his pitbull face in Luke's. "Where is the stuff?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Luke protested.

"Really? I've got news for you. When you left your little receipt on the Dean's computer, the admins could trace you. Again, where is it?"

Luke almost stepped into the trap telling Pomona that he had only left a prank message. He thought furiously. If they hadn't found the USB thumb drive yet, there was hope. He needed somebody on his side though. The Fifth Amendment! Miranda rights!

"I refuse to answer any questions without my lawyer," he shot back.

"Sonny boy, we got you for cyber terrorism. We can have you sent to sunny Guantanamo Bay. You answer now, and we might let you get out of this, but if you don't cooperate we'll prosecute you and send you to the hard place for ten years. Imagine that: a cute college nerd in a state prison!"

Luke's brain was working better now. This was all crap the captain was spouting. They had not read him his rights either, so any judge worth his salt would throw out the charges. He had to keep his mouth shut.

"I asked you something, Punk!"

"I invoke my right not to answer your questions. I demand an attorney."

"You little shit! You think you can weasel your way out? Parson! Lock 'im up!"

"Come on, Kid," one of the campus cops said. "Let's get you locked away."

 

2 – Whistleblower

Eight hours later, Luke was still sitting in a small holding cell in what passed for the headquarter of the campus police. He had received no food or drink, and his right to a phone call had been denied. That was wrong: his angry demands had simply been ignored.

What had happened to John? John must have known about his arrest. He would call Luke's father, would he? The hunger was getting stronger now, but he tried to control it. He thought hard. Why did the Dean react that strongly? It was a harmless prank, a message popping up on his computer on the startup screen wishing 'Happy Halloween!'. What had provoked such a strong response?

It must have been something else. The campus police were in clear violation of his basic civil rights. Why would they risk that?

Maybe it was those data that he had downloaded? The file folder about the physics department annex? Maybe he could explain that he hadn't even looked at it? Bad idea. That would be admitting to breaking into the dean's computer. Right now, all they could have would be a TCP-IP address, but those were easily faked. He had been under suspicion a year before when the Math exams had been lifted off Professor Pincer's computer, and he had successfully argued that a TCP-IP address could be forged. Even Pincer had admitted to the possibility. That could work again. They might not believe it, but it was a valid defense.

Oh shit! It must be late afternoon already, and Katie would be waiting for him all day. Oh God! She'd think he had snubbed her. Shit! He had some explaining to do. Oh, Katie! The thought of her alone gave him some balance. He'd get out eventually, and then he would explain things to her. God, he didn't want to louse it up with her!

With a screech, the door lock was worked and in came... the dean! Professor Lawrence in person! He cast an ugly look at Luke and looked around.

"I imagine you may be willing to talk now," he observed casually, but Luke could see a flicker in his eyes. The man was worried!

"Sir, I have no idea what this is all about. I have been arrested without cause, I was denied fundamental civil rights, and I was left without water or food for the entire day."

Lawrence waved his hand. "Spare me the rubbish! We nailed you last year when you came up with that flimsy excuse. It won't help you again."

"Sir, with all respect, if somebody assumed my identity last year, he can easily repeat that."

"Oh yes, of course. Don't worry. The IT staff is going over your laptop with a fine comb. We'll know it soon."

Luke kept his mouth shut. No need to tip them off that he had securely deleted everything before switching off the laptop. If only they didn't find the thumb drive!

"Yes, and then I will run your ass off this campus!" Lawrence continued warming up to the prospect.

Luke shrugged playing for time. He needed to get in help. "The campus police is still in violation of my constitutional rights. Whatever you bring up, any judge will throw it out."

"Fine, fine! I'll get you a lawyer. Maybe he can talk sense into you."

"I have the right to an attorney of my choosing, Sir."

"Look, why not simply tell me what you stole from my computer? Return the files, and all I'll do is suspend your rights to use the intranet. You'll be graduating next year, right? Why would you want to ruin your future?"

"Sir, you are in violation of my rights. I demand a lawyer, I demand the right to a phone call."

"Fine! Have it your way!" Lawrence snarled angrily and knocked on the door.

Luke saw his chance. He knew the central administration building well enough, and he knew that campus police was lodging on the ground floor right next to the main exit. The arrest cell was nothing more than a disused office with a reinforced door and bars behind window. Campus police mostly consisted of retired police officers, most of them over sixty.

Therefore, when the door opened to Lawrence's knock, Luke rushed it. He wasn't a jock, but he wasn't a wimp either. He was tall – almost 6'3" – and in reasonably good shape. When he impacted on the door he brushed Lawrence to the side and sent the elderly cop stumbling backwards. Then he was through the door. He took only a fraction of a second to get his bearings, and then he sprinted towards the exit.

The cop hollered behind him, Lawrence screamed, but before anybody in the watch room could react and set down their coffee mugs, Luke was barreling through the front door and into the open.

Instinct made him run for his dorm building, but he was already contemplating the wisdom of this. This was where they'd look for him first, but he needed stuff from his room, like his stash of money and the old driver's license. Both were well hidden on top of a ceiling tile. And the thumb drive. Please God, let it still be there! Chances were that the campus cops couldn't tell a thumb drive from an eraser and had left it there.

There was the building. He sprinted up the front steps as his ears picked up the first siren. Thank god, the door was not closed. There was an old umbrella, a big sturdy one in a corner in the entrance hall. Luke stuck it through the door handles from inside, effectively blocking the door.

Up the flight of stairs he slammed into the door to his and John's suite. There was John staring at him with disbelief first and then fear. In a second, everything was clear: John was struggling this year. Ratting Luke out would earn him enough brownie points with the dean to get passing grades.

"You shit!" Luke snarled advancing on his roommate.

John unfroze and jumped back into his room, slamming the door shut and pushing home the deadbolt. No time for John! There was yellow crime scene tape in front of Luke's room but he simply threw his weight against the flimsy door. Doors in a dorm do not have an easy life, and Luke's door had been on the receiving end of kinetic energy a few times in the past. It flew open under Luke's weight.

In a flash, he pulled his desk chair to a corner near the bed. He stepped up on it and pushed up a ceiling tile. Yes! His stash was untouched. There was his driver's license along with his cash reserves, seven hundred and fifty dollars. He only now became aware of the utter chaos in the room. Everything had been turned over! He ran to where the desk stood haphazardly, about a foot from the wall. The tin can with his pens was nowhere to be seen. He looked under the desk. There! The cops must have pushed it back over the edge of the desk. Quickly, he crawled under the desk. For six or seven precious seconds he fumbled for the thumb drive but then he found it. Stuffing it into his pockets, he grabbed for one of his warmer jackets that was lying on top of a heap of clothing and pulled it on.

From downstairs he could hear shouting now, and he quickly opened the window sash. The rear of the building was standing against a small hill, and the drop from the window was a mere seven feet onto soft grass. He squeezed himself through the open window and without a backward glance he jumped. He quickly found his footing and ran uphill. That side of the campus was surrounded by a six foot brick wall that bordered on a highway. It took him just two attempts to get one foot on the wall. Behind him, he heard the sounds of men running, but now he was on the wall and let himself drop down on the other side.

Just ten strides later, and he was on the highway. A gas station was located just half a mile down the road, and Luke set out for it in a hurried jog.

He was in luck. A trucker was just exiting the shop and heading for his Kenworth semi.

"Excuse me, Mister. Are you heading for Portland?"

"Yeah. Portland, then Tacoma. Why? Looking for a ride?"

"Yes sir! I just got word that my dad had a heart attack. Can't find a flight that late, and I thought..."

"Oh, shut up and get in," the trucker grumbled. "And spare your poor father all those heart attacks when you just want to hitch rides."

The driver's name was Eugene Manning. He was about thirty, had a picture of a pretty lady and a small kid on his dashboard, and he had his stereo set to a classic rock station.

"Keeps me from falling asleep. You running from the law?"

"Nah, not really. Just campus cops, and they've got nothing on me. Still, I need to put some distance between them and me."

"Whatcha do? Smoke grass?"

"Naw, they kinda have this idea that I did something on the dean's computer."

"Totally untrue, of course?"

"Totally," Luke assured him.

—————

Eugene Manning dropped Luke off in Tacoma early in the next morning. Luke found a breakfast place and enjoyed his first real meal in over 36 hours. The speed with which he put away a load of pancakes made the waitress giggle, and they bantered for a minute or two. When he asked her nicely she allowed him the use of the telephone. He was lucky. His father was still at home.

"Dad, this is Luke. I'm in Tacoma."

"What the hell are you doing in Tacoma?" his father wanted to know.

"I'm sorta on the run, Dad. The campus police arrested me yesterday morning and they kept..."

"Arrested you? What the hell did you do this time?"

"Thanks for your trust in me, Dad," Luke retorted, not really worried. His father was a fellow nerd and prankster, and although he was a senior manager at a major software company near Seattle he had not lost his sense of humor yet. "They held me for the full day. No lawyer, no phone call, no food, no drink. Dean himself pressed me to confess to some nonsense. When he left my holding cell I ran for it and made it out of the building. I hitched a ride to Tacoma. Shit, Dad, it was the only thing I could think of."

"Held you without due process? You're not shitting me?"

"No, Dad, the truth."

"You have money on you?"

"Yup. Recovered my stash, so I'm covered money wise. I even got my old driver's license, you know: the one I thought I'd lost. It should still hold up in a control."

"Okay, here's what you do. Find yourself a phone shop and get a disposable cell. Call me on my cell then. I'm on my way to pick you up."

"Thanks, Dad. I really appreciate it. I'll do as you say."

"Okay. Get that cell and call me."

Thank God his father was a cool guy. His mother would have had a cow, but she had left his Dad seven years ago to pursue a life on the fast lane. He'd only seen her once in the last years, for fifteen minutes with her taxi cab's engine running. On the whole, he preferred his father anyway. For his sister Anna it could have been harder, but Anna was diametrically opposed to their mother, being a hardcore nerd like her father and brother.

—————

Once Luke found a phone shop and a cheap cell with a prepaid card, he called his father. Not thirty minutes later, Luke saw him drive up in the Volvo convertible that told the world that Erwin Braun was doing well as project manager for a major software company. With a sigh of relief, Luke dropped into the passenger seat.

"You look like shit," his father remarked. "Smell like it, too."

"Add feel like it," Luke sighed.

Luke's father put the Volvo in gear and left the curb.

"Okay, Lukas. Let's hear your story."

By the time they reached Seattle, his father had already contacted his lawyer who in turn found a colleague who was licensed to practice in California. He made an appointment for the afternoon and then drove to their modest home on Mercer Island. For the first time in almost two days, Luke had a chance for a shower.

Once he returned to the living room Luke's father was already going through the files on Luke's thumb drive.

"This stuff looks like contractors' quotes for a construction. There's emails, too. I can't make much sense out of this. Are you sure that's what your dean is after?"

"I really don't know, Papa."

"This looks funny. The numbers don't add up. Besides, look here: costs for a workstation computer at $180,000. That's insane. And... Jeez! It's just three bidders for each contract. The same three bidders for each lot. And... of course! Look! It's always a different low bidder."

"And?" Luke asked.

"It's a scam!" his father laughed. "They all turn in inflated bids, and the lowest bidder gets the job. They all get jobs, you see, although all of them charge way too high."

"So what do I do? I didn't get that stuff legally. Can it be used at all?"

"That's why we'll see a lawyer."

—————

The lawyer, Edmundo Rodriguez, heard their story patiently, taking notes on laptop. Luke saw his father's distaste looking at the laptop. It had the hated apple logo on the lid. Erwin Braun was definitely not a Mac person. Rodriguez asked questions then, still typing away when they answered. In the end, the laptop was closed and Rodriguez looked at them.

"I can see several angles to this story. It's a civil rights violation all right, but that will be hard to prove if the campus cops close ranks. Those files however give us something to play with. Do you know whether there's federal money involved in that building?"

Luke nodded. "There was something in the campus paper. They landed extra funds from NASA."

Rodriguez' eyes lit up. "I'll check that. Ever heard of the False Claims Act?"

Both Brauns shook their heads.

"If the federal government is defrauded, they will give up to thirty percent of the recovered funds to the person who uncovers the scam. We're talking maybe millions here."

Father and son looked at each other.

"Are those files legal to use?" Erwin asked.

"Maybe we have to put a spin on it. You, Mr. Braun, have to file a motion with the Justice Department. "

"How do I do that?"

"Do you want me to represent you?"

Luke looked at his father who tilted his head.

"Your percentage?"

Mr. Rodriguez' face changed into Poker mode. "Thirty-three, as usual."

"Can we give you an answer tomorrow?" Erwin Braun asked innocently.

In the end, they settled on a 25% share for Mr. Rodriguez.

—————

The session had already lasted for four hours, and Luke was exhausted. Rodriguez was also showing signs of fatigue. Together with two FBI field agents, one from the Secret Service, and a man from Treasury, they had gone over Luke's testimony. The feds were very interested and had sought to get every little detail out of Luke. Now he had nothing more to offer. The senior FBI special agent also yawned.

"What do you say? Are we finished?"

The Treasury man shuffled a few papers and nodded, while the second special agent cleared his throat.

"Yes, I think this settles it for today. I don't have to tell you, Mr. Braun, that you must stay away from the campus under all circumstances. They can still charge you in California. We'll try to square things with the CBI, but right now, you are a fugitive from the law in California."

Luke turned to his lawyer.

"Is there a way to get my stuff from my dorm room?" Luke asked. "There's my credits, too. Can I get those?"

"The credits should be no problem. I can get those. As for the room, they may declare the contents as evidence. Let me check with the local court. Maybe I can slap them with an injunction."

"There is also the stuff in my pockets. My driver's license, my billfold, my watch. There was a piece of scrap paper with a phone number, too."

"They will declare those evidence," Rodriguez said shaking his head.

"But I was never arrested," Luke protested. "Nobody told me I was under arrest. Nobody read me my rights. It was illegal."

"Again, I'll check. Don't get your hopes up."

—————

As Rodriguez had predicted, getting Luke's credits was easy due to the California Public Records Act. By early December, he was enrolled at the University of Washington thanks to his father's clout and also to his own performance during an impromptu evaluation. They accepted almost all of his credits, and his course load was doable. Still, he had to apply the seat of his pants to his desk chair for the next weeks and months, to catch up.

It largely kept him out of mischief. By mid-December, Rodriguez briefed him on recent events: a raid jointly executed by FBI and CBI had targeted the offices of Dean Lawrence, Captain Pomona, and of four contractors. The federal and state investigators were still going through thousands of documents, but it was already clear that indictments would follow. Dean Lawrence was put on leave. and the construction of the physics annex was halted, pending a review of the bidding process.

A mover had also been able to retrieve Luke's possessions from his dorm room. A lot of it was unusable, and his laptop had been literally ripped apart. The problem was that his arrest had never been documented. It was Luke's word against seven campus police officers. Rodriguez advised Luke to cut his losses. Luke's driver's license and his billfold were eventually found in the lost property room and returned to him by mail. Everything had been soaked in what Luke suspected had been sewage, but they claimed his stuff had been found like that and turned in by the finder.

There was no trace at all of the scrap paper with Katie's phone number, and for the time being, Luke saw no chance at all to visit the campus. When he tried to contact fellow seniors, most were unwilling to help. Eventually, some brave soul agreed to find