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some of the furniture would be staying, but the majority of it the owners would be taking with them.  Looking at the furniture, it is a bit dated so we wouldn’t want to keep it.”
    Bradford had to have known he had really sent Nora over the edge with his last comment, and just stood there calmly while she hurled further abuse at him.
    Around the corner, a police car finally arrived.  It parked where the U-Rent-It van had been, before their friend Abe had taken it back to the rental place.
    Abe had been a true friend.  Bradford and he went back a long way, or so she had been told.  He was a tall, lanky young man with yellow teeth.  Bradford said he had a drug problem; what that meant, Harper didn’t know.  Bradford told her to stay far away from drugs of any kind, including alcohol.  He wouldn’t even let her touch his cigarettes, saying they would ruin her.  They hadn’t ruined him, but she had never thought to make that comparison, willing to listen to anything Bradford said.  Drug problem or not, Bradford had convinced Abe to help them find a van and use it.  Harper wasn’t sure how Bradford had convinced him, but Abe had eagerly agreed, happy to help his friend.
    Bradford had been right; they had needed someone to help them with the moving van.  When it had all started with the old woman arriving, there was no way they could leave the house.  They had to stay there and act like normal new tenants.  She hadn’t wanted to leave Bradford alone without Abe’s help to deal with the real owners of the house, but like he said, it looked more realistic and professional to have someone driving the van away.  The plan had gone off without a hitch, so far.
    A policeman got out of the car, sliding his baton into his gun belt.  He was a pretty big guy.  Harper was worried for Bradford now.  Maybe this really hadn’t been such a good idea.  She had seen one of her mom’s ex-boyfriends get tasered by the cops before, after she herself had called the police as he had tried to break into the house.  He had become all stiff and went straight down to the ground.  The cops had jumped on top of him, knocking the knife he had out of his hand and taking him to jail where he belonged.  She really hoped the same thing wouldn’t happen to Bradford.
    As Harper studied Bradford’s face, she was relieved to see that he still looked relaxed and calm.  His sunglasses still perched on top of his nose.  All he really needed was a cigarette, but he had told her that smoking wasn’t professional.  If anything, from an outsider’s point of view, it looked like the old woman was the one who was causing so much of the commotion and was the one in the wrong.
    “What seems to be the trouble?”  Harper thought they only said stuff like that on TV.  For a moment, Harper thought she should go outside to offer Bradford some support, but she knew it would unsettle him if she did.  He would be worrying about her, saying something wrong rather than focusing on what he was saying.  He had told her to stay put, so if she went into a state no one would notice.  She didn’t necessarily feel like she was going to go into a state, but her anxiety could come up at any moment.
    Besides, Harper could hear everything that was being said from where she was, so she was fully aware of the situation.
    “This boy says this is his house and that he’s moving in!”  The woman was screaming and pointing an accusing finger at Bradford.  “I want him arrested this instant!”
    Harper watched the policeman size up both Bradford and the woman, and he asked them both for some identification.
    The woman appeared to calm down and even managed to smile.
    “Come on, kid, let’s see how clever you are now,” she said, straightening her skirt and shifting through her leather, brand-name purse for her wallet.  Harper liked her bag, even though she didn’t look like the right person to be carrying it.
    “Don’t be so quick to jump to