The Cubicle Detective

By Roberta Hoffer

Teenage computer wizard Andy Roberts lands a job working for a company that builds extreme water parks. From his high-tech home computer cubicle, he begins to design a water slide like none seen anywhere in the world. However, when he uses a remote controlled drone to help with his work, he and his friend Norm witness a kidnapping. Can Andy and Norm save the victim? Or will they become victims, themselves? [Young Adult Mystery (rated PG) released in 2016 by Dragonfly Publishing, Inc.]

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dragonfly Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 24, 2016
• ISBN: 9781941278437

Roberta Hoffer

Roberta Hoffer is a retired preschool teacher from a small town in Indiana. She married her high school sweetheart and together they have two children and have a grandson. She loves animals and is an advocate for animal rights. When not writing, she enjoys boating, camping, walking, snow activities, and anything that involves her family being together.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

TO most people I was a computer nerd.

That’s me, Andy Roberts, computer nerd extraordinaire.

I really didn’t get too bent out of shape over the term nerd, because I figured it was actually a good thing. A nerd was usually defined as someone intellectually talented but socially awkward. I preferred to think of myself more as a geek, technically adept with good social skills. I was a pretty good basketball player and a skateboarder, so I had lots of friends from nerds to jocks.

I was just an average sixteen year-old boy. Nothing worthy of a magazine cover, but I was nice looking with sandy blond hair that I liked to wear just past my ears. I was rather muscular for my age with long legs that helped put lay-ups through the hoop on the basketball court. Oh, and I was also pretty decent at karate. I earned my black belt at fifteen. A bunch of my friends and I had taken karate together from a private Sensei from the age of ten. We called ourselves The Karate Gang. At the time we thought it was pretty tough sounding. Now it just sounded like a movie title.

My best friend, Norman Thaddeus Westfield, leaned more toward the geek side. Good old Norm and I had been best friends since first grade. I didn’t see that changing anytime soon. He had a black belt, too, but liked to hide it behind his nerdiness.

Although I fit into the jock category, my heart was in computers. And because of computers it looked like I had a bright future ahead of me by the ripe old age of sixteen.

I leaned back in my high-backed comfortable chair. Lacing my fingers behind my head, I propped my feet up on the giant desk and crossed them at the ankles. I stared at the screens in front of me for a moment and then closed my eyes.

As I was pondering my next assignment, my mind drifted to how I had gotten to this point.

I received my first computer for my twelfth birthday. Mastering the computer had been easy. It was digital design that caught my interest. Obsessed with ideas that my current system just would not produce, I soon begged for more computer equipment. Bigger monitor. Better software. Updated hardware. More powerful digital cameras. Soon my bedroom had been transformed into a fully-functioning computer center with just enough space left for my bed.

I felt—no, I knew—that computer design was what I wanted to do with my future, my life. I began small, designing houses and schoolrooms before tackling high-rise office buildings. Then I turned to re-designing city parks for more efficiency with better facilities. I even snagged an interview with the City Commissioner. At first he was sort of rude when he realized the appointment was with a kid. When he found out why I was there, he nearly laughed in my face. That made Mom mad. She shoved my drawings across his desk, knocking over a container of fancy pens. With an expression of disgust, he pushed his pens into a neat pile to the side of the desk and then picked up the folder. He studied the drawings, silently staring at me after each page. When he finished, he cleared his throat and looked at me with a renewed respect. He complimented my originality and the fresh approach I had created for the local parks. That was the day I actually landed a real job. The first park I designed was named Androb Skate Park, which I thought was pretty cool. After the local city parks had been up-scaled, I was offered a job with a nearby town to redesign their parks. By the time my reputation had leaked into adjoining counties, my focus had shifted to bigger and more extreme parks, ones with equipment for older kids.

Time had passed quickly. Being busy with newer and more advanced designs, I found myself with only the summer left before heading into my freshman year of high school. It seemed as though I spent every waking minute with my eyes glued to the computer screens and my fingers flying across the keyboard. By then I had two more computers, a laptop, and multiple online portals. Power cords ran from every direction into one neat row on a collection of power bars.

Then there was Kayla Anderson. From the first time she waltzed into home room in seventh grade, I knew she would be my girlfriend. Her long dark brown hair glistened in the sun and swung freely from side-to-side as she walked. Her mouth curled up at the edges when she smiled. But it was her eyes that nearly knocked me off my feet the first time I saw her. They were that piercing shade of azure blue. And it certainly didn’t hurt that she always smelled like sweet honeysuckle. I loved when she cheered for me at basketball games. Sometimes Kayla complained about how much time I spent on the computer. She really didn’t understand. She just knew time with computers meant less time with her.

Okay, point taken.

The sound of the garage door raising jogged me out of my dream-state.

I opened my eyes, glancing at the design on the computer screen. I knew it was just Mom coming home from work.

Closing my eyes again, I adjusted my legs to a more comfortable position. I laid my head flat against the cushion of my chair and crossed my arms across my chest.

I had to come up with an original over-the-top design.

My mind drifted to our recent family trip to the Bahamas.

Something was there, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it.

I needed to refocus.

A voice in my head said my future depended on it.

* * * * *

CHAPTER 2

JUST as I was drifting off into memories of that trip to the Bahamas, my cell phone rang again.

Andy? a voice on the other end sang out in a familiar melody. Whatcha doin’?

It was Kayla. Odd. She usually connected with me on the computer for com-chat.

Oh, hi, Kayla, I replied. Actually I’m in the middle of something. I’m trying to put my finger on the final plans for a new project.

Silence. I knew all too well what that meant. Kayla already thought I spent too much time on my computers and projects and not enough time with her. Had she told me that many, many times. She just didn’t understand what it meant to have a position with a highly technical company. But I had to find a way to gloss over the hurt I felt oozing from the other end of the phone.

I have a deadline with Mr. Newman to finish this project, but then I’m all yours, I said, hoping to appease her. I’m on a tight schedule. It’s crunch time.

Well, she whispered in the phone in her sweet, innocent voice, if you promise to take me to the Senior Summer Dance, I’ll let you get back to your project.

Of course, I was already planning to ask you to the dance. I thought you knew that. Whatever makes you happy. I gave a heavy sigh of relief. At least I wasn’t getting more of the silent treatment.

I tried not to let on that I had forgotten about the Senior Summer Dance. I was also very glad at this point she had not used com-chat, which I was sure would reveal a look of panic on my face.

I searched madly through the school papers heaped in my desk drawer. There it was, the flyer for the dance. It stared up at me like a last will and testament. My stomach turned upside down, and I got a queasy feeling. The project I was working on for Mr. Newman had a deadline exactly two weeks before the Senior Summer Dance. I nearly retched at the discovery.

Great. Just great.

Kayla and I said our usual sugar-coated goodbyes. Then I put my phone on silent. Grabbing a soda from the refrigerator to settle my stomach, I struggled to block out the drama I knew would take place with Kayla if I didn’t finish this project in time to take her to the dance. I settled myself back into my comfortable chair and sipped my soda. Slowly the knots