Invasion of the Alien Dust Bunnies

By Paige Ryter

Rick and Lyra have a new client who claims to have been cloned by dust bunnies under his bed. The guy's weird, but it's not until they investigate that they realize they have a bigger problem than they anticipated, needing to get more help.

Rick Shilling to the Rescue Story 4—NOVELLA LENGTH

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paige Ryter
• Release date: Jul 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781938350313

Paige Ryter

Paige Ryter (a clever pen name pronounced like 'page writer') makes her home in Wisconsin with her husband, three adult children, and various pets. When not dealing with pets, kids, and cleaning her home (not her favorite thing to do), Paige is writing books as all the pen names on the www.SweetTaleBooks.com site. Find more of her books at www.PaigeRyter.com

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INVASION OF THE ALIEN DUST BUNNIES

by

Paige Ryter

~~~~~

PUBLISHED BY

Paige Ryter on Smashwords

Copyright © 2015 by Paige Ryter

http://www.paigeryter.com

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

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Dedication

To everyone hearing bumps in the night—the monsters are real and live under your bed.

–The Dust Bunnies

~~~~~

Chapter 1

Someone rapped at Rick Shilling's outer door, waking him from a deep sleep. Coming, he yelled. The idea of someone bugging him in the middle of the night ticked him off, because he was having a wonderful argument with Lyra in his dream. And for once, he was winning. He almost had her to the place where she could admit she was madly in love with him.

But in reality, it wasn't meant to be. She still lived in the big house next door and still dated Conor. Every night, Conor would visit until all hours of the morning and then would go home. They weren't doing anything out of the ordinary—mostly watching television and eating popcorn, but Rick was jealous. No, he was more than jealous. He was a stalker, watching her through her sliding glass windows to make sure Conor didn't do anything wrong. Thus, Rick always went to bed late, because he had to keep an eye on his neighbor and coworker, Lyra.

Rick shuffled in his bare feet down the stairs in his home to the front door. The doorbell rang and someone knocked, yet again. Coming. Geesh! You'd think it was the end of the world or something.

It is, came a male voice from the other side of the door. Hurry up or they'll kidnap me again.

A client? That's all he needed. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They all say that. Rick unlocked both locks on the door.

But before he could turn the knob, the door burst open and a man, dressed in pajamas, ran inside. Quick. Hide me. I'll go anywhere you can store me, just to stay safe. He danced a bit, crossing his legs. But first, do you have a bathroom?

Rick pointed toward the downstairs bathroom, right off the foyer. Hurry up. I want to go back to bed and can't be bugged with freaky-deeky clients right now.

The guy ran into the bathroom and slammed the door. Moans of relief came from inside the bathroom, but Rick wasn't impressed. Instead, he ambled into the kitchen and began making a few cups of coffee. He was going to need it. Reality descended into his brain. He realized he probably shouldn't be alone with a man dressed in pajamas, or the neighbors—and Lyra—might talk. He grabbed the phone on the wall and made a call.

Huh? was the answer from the other end of the phone.

Neville, I have a client. I need help. Rick yawned.

At 1:45 in the morning? What time did you finally come home from watching Lyra?

You're not to know about that.

Neville sighed. Everyone in the neighborhood knows, considering the cops almost arrested you last night. What time?

The cops brought me back around midnight, then I was at Lyra's until after one. I'm tired. And this yahoo client wants me to hide him or something. Rick heard a noise and turned around.

The yahoo client stood in front of him with the knife from the kitchen wooden knife block in his hand. Rick wasn't impressed. Get over here, he said to Neville over the phone. Yahoo thinks he's Rambo or something and is wielding a knife. He ended the call and covered his mouth when he yawned. Put that thing away. This isn't the time for heroics.

Hide me or I'll kill you.

Stupid man, Rick said. If you kill me, everyone's going to be after you. He pointed toward the knife. Your prints are on the handle. Didn't he watch cop shows?

I don't have any prints. The dust bunnies stole them from me, to give to my clone.

Rick's brain kicked into gear and woke up. This guy just became a lot more interesting.

~~~~~

Chapter 2

"Lyra! Come to the door! We need you."

Rick's voice carried from outside up to Lyra's open second floor bedroom window. Conor had just gone home, after discussing taking their relationship further. In other words, since she was alone, she wasn't in the mood to deal with Rick and his stalker-ish ways. It was hot outside, considering it was late July, and she didn't need any of Rick's issues to add to the heat.

Lyra rolled over and pulled her pillow on top of her head. Go away.

I can't. The voice came from inside her bedroom.

With a sigh, she rolled over and sat up, seeing both Rick and Neville in front of her. What now? Are you here to bug me about Conor? He left at one, which you already know. She glanced at the clock. It's only two? I got less than an hour's sleep? She fell back to the bed, wanting to cry. Why did you pop into my bedroom, anyway? Are you going to stalk me here, like you did downstairs?

No, Neville said, with a glance toward Rick. I'm keeping him straight. We're here because we have a client.

At two in the morning?

You're going to want to hear this one. Rick approached the bed and helped her sit up again. Get dressed. We're needed at my place.

You do realize I'm really tired and grumpy.

Yep. Fix it.

With a groan, she clicked a few buttons on her Steward Timepiece watch-looking alien technology, and was dressed and presentable in no time flat. Rick clicked on a button of his timepiece, and they were all taken to the front of his home.

We could've walked, Lyra said with a yawn. You're right next door.

Rick shook his head. Nope. We have to talk to this new client and there's no time to waste. He's a doozy. He reached out and opened the door, heading inside. Lyra followed along, with Neville bringing up the rear.

Once inside, the client was nowhere to be found. Arthur, where are you? Rick asked.

In here. The voice was timid and low, but it almost sounded like the guy was crying.

Where's here? Rick asked. This is a big place so I have no idea where you are.

The kitchen. They're going to get me. I can just feel it. He seemed to even sob in fear. Weird client, like usual.

Who's going to get him? Lyra whispered to Rick.

"Just you wait and