Fear Familiar Bundle (162 page)

He sank to the bricks beside her. "Did she say where she was? Did she say anything?"

At that moment Jennifer knew J. P. Frost wasn't party to his daughter's disappearance. "I'm sorry, no. She didn't say anything. In fact, I had the call traced and it came from your cellular phone. That's why I came here. I thought…"

"You thought I had her."

She nodded. "I don't know you. It was a possibility."

"And you risked coming here? What if I'd had a gun?"

Jennifer looked down at her hands. That thought had crossed her mind— more than once. But she'd been willing to take the risk to find Mimi and Tommy. "I had to do it, anyway."

Taking her elbow, he helped her to her feet. "Let's clean up those hands. It's a bad scrape, but not serious."

Together they went to the kitchen. As she washed her hands, she talked. When she'd told him everything except Mimi's assertion that Eugene had kidnapped her, she asked him about the phone.

He held out the tube of antibiotic salve. "You're not going to believe this, but my telephone was stolen two days ago. From my car. They broke the windshield and took the phone. Not the stereo, but the phone."

"Where?"

"Outside the apartment. It was a clean job. No one heard them. There's security here at the apartments, and they didn't have anything else reported stolen. It was as if the person came in here to get the phone and nothing else."

Jennifer met his worried gaze. "You may have hit the nail on the head, Mr. Frost."

"T
HE PRODIGALS RETURN
." Jennifer gave Eugene and Familiar an angry glance. For Judy, she produced a frozen yogurt cone.

"Hey, thanks." Judy took the cone and sat down out of the line of fire. "I told them you were going to be pissed."

"Judith!" Eugene looked at her. "Your mother would have a fit if she heard you talk like that."

"Right. She thinks I'm going to grow up to be a lady." Judy laughed. "I'm not missing all the fun."

Jennifer ignored the youngster for the moment. "So where have you been?"

"Spying." Eugene answered without missing a beat. "I thought I was pretty good at it until Familiar found me." He gave the cat an affectionate pat. "Lucky he did. Crush was pulling into the drive and if Familiar hadn't beaten him there by several minutes, I might have been caught red-handed."

"You were at Crush Bonbon's house?" Jennifer didn't doubt it. Eugene was capable of many, many things.

"I wanted to see if the children might be there."

"And were they?" Jennifer knew if they'd been there Eugene would have risked everything to get them out.

"I didn't see them. The house is too old, too big, too tall and too dark. I tried to climb a magnolia tree, but I just don't have the strength anymore. Maybe James will give it a try later this evening."

"Maybe we should get the cops to get a warrant," Judy said. She licked a swirl of boysenberry from the side of the sugar cone. "This is great. The perks on a spy job are terrific."

"No cops," Jennifer and Eugene said in unison.

"You act guilty," Judy pointed out. "In the movies that's always the mistake the heroine makes. She doesn't go to the authorities. Of course, in the movies, if she went, they'd lock her up because they think she's the one who…" She looked up at Jennifer. "I see the problem. Forget that I ever said anything."

"Don't fret, Judith. We'll figure out a way to check out Crush." Eugene spoke softly to the young girl.

"Want me to go look at Crush's house?" Judy was suddenly on the edge of the sofa, the last few bites of her cone forgotten. "I could do it. I'm really good at sneaking around."

"Absolutely not," Jennifer said firmly. She nudged Eugene.

"Of course that wouldn't be appropriate behavior, Judith. You might be injured, and then you'd be in a fine pickle. Leave this to us adults, who can afford legal counsel."

"That's not exactly the reason why she shouldn't break into someone's house," Jennifer whispered to Eugene. "It's wrong."

"Judith has enough sense to know right from wrong. But it isn't right that they're trying to frame me, either," Eugene said loud enough for the child to hear. "If anyone breaks into Crush's house, it's in an effort to get the truth." He gave Judith a long, contemplative look. "But it has to be an adult, Judith. For a lot of reasons. Children aren't considered reliable witnesses, though God knows why. They're far more observant than most adults. And you're an exceptionally bright young lady."

"I've studied subversive tactics, too." Judy looked around. "I've read all the Nancy Drew mysteries, and I've been practicing."

"But not at Crush Bonbon's house." Jennifer saw pending disaster. "Please, Judy, promise me that you'll leave this to us. If anything happened to you, it could go very badly for Eugene."

Judy's mouth flattened into a thin line as she thought it over. "Okay." She held out her hand. "You have my word I won't go near Crush Bonbon's house tonight."

Jennifer's hands shook with relief. One disaster averted. Now for plans for the night.

M
ETHINKS
M
ISS
S
PITFIRE
has all of her brain cells in high gear and churning. That look in her eyes is enough to call to mind the great strategists of the world. Hannibal to be specific. And that makes my kitty fur twitch. I see trouble abrewin', and it ain't no mild afternoon blend.

This is going to take some fine maneuvers, but I've got to get in the car with her and make sure she doesn't get herself in trouble. I know she won't take me voluntarily. Let me think…

Ah, there's the morning newspaper. Let me push it toward Eugene's lap. A gentle nudge and there it goes, off the arm of the sofa and right into his lap. He looks surprised. Eugene is a student of feline behavior, and he knows whenever a cat knocks something off, it's deliberate. Yes, he's picking up the paper and looking at it. Scanning the headlines now, looking to see what might have caught my interest.

Eureka! He's found the byline by James. Light is dawning. He understands. I can tell by that little smile of his that he'll call James as soon as Jennifer and I are out the door.

Yes, he's up and giving her a goodbye kiss. He's standing in the doorway— against all the rules— with the door open and he's letting me through.

God bless a human with a fully developed brain! I may have to adopt this man.

But for now, I've got to make it to the back seat of the car before Jennifer slams the door on my lovely…tail.

Piece of cake! I'm in. The car is moving. And Spitfire drives like a bat out of hell. Ah, one of the finest things in life is to be chauffeured through an interesting old city by a beautiful woman. I'll just kick back and enjoy this until she discovers I'm here.

J
ENNIFER STOPPED
in her driveway and reached into the back seat for her purse. When her hand encountered the warm furry obstacle, she hesitated, felt it again, and then knelt on her seat so she could get a better look into the back seat of her car.

"Familiar! How did you get there?"

The cat yawned.

"So I'm boring you with all of this? Eugene is going to be worried sick about you." She watched as Familiar stretched slowly and then got up. "Or did he put you up to this?" She had the strangest sensation that the cat and the writer were in cahoots. "Well, you can stay at my house, but you aren't going to follow me around like a dog."

Ignoring her completely, the cat leapt out of the car and landed on the ground. Acting as if he'd grown up in her house, he went to the front door.

"Meow!"

Jennifer let him in and watched in amazement as he went directly to her refrigerator.

"Don't you ever get enough to eat?" She pulled out a grilled chicken breast and cut up a handful for him. "Occupy yourself. I've got to make some calls."

She took the portable kitchen phone onto the small deck off her back porch and sat down with a pad and pen. The only sign of her emotions was the muscle in her jaw clenching and unclenching as she dialed. At the back of her conscience was a nagging concern— she should call the police and report the telephone call from Mimi. But if she did that, she might lose her chances of finding the cellular telephone in Crush Bonbon's possession. It was a dilemma that made her twitch with guilt. Her mental hand-wringing was interrupted when someone answered her call.

"Hello, Crush? This is Jennifer Barkley. I'm ready to call in my bet." There was a pause. "Yes, he was taken in for questioning, but he wasn't charged. That was our deal, remember. He had to be charged." Her fingers on the telephone tightened. "That's not the agreement. You said if I won the bet I'd get a half hour to give my side of this issue."

There was another long silence as she held the telephone to her ear. Hot color ran up her cheeks. "You wouldn't know the meaning of honoring your word. In fact, your word isn't worth much at all, Bonbon. I don't know why I ever expected more from you."

She slammed the telephone back into the cradle and looked up to see the cat in the doorway watching her. He walked forward slowly and without a by-your-leave jumped up into her lap. He rubbed his whiskers against her chin and in a moment she felt the strange roughness of his tongue licking the tear that had tracked down her cheek.

"It's okay, Familiar. I'm not upset. Not really." She started to pick up the phone, then hesitated. "Maji is going to hog-tie me and roast me over an open spit. It's my job to prevent this kind of thing from happening."

The cat licked another tear, then gently nipped the fingers of her right hand.

"You're right. I have to make this call." She picked up the phone and dialed the long-distance number. After a few rings, she heard the nasal twang of Maji Call.

"I have some bad news," Jennifer said without bothering to sugarcoat it. "A second child has disappeared and Crush Bonbon is planning on launching a public crusade on his show this evening to begin gathering Eugene's books for a bonfire."

Jennifer's hand hovered on the radio dial. Her tears of the afternoon had been replaced by a cold anger as she listened to Crush Bonbon and his series of "guests."

They were all guests with a political agenda, and anyone with half a brain would be able to see right through the entire show. It was a very pitiful attempt to focus public emotion against Eugene so that Anna Green could benefit from the surge of fear and anger.

James had called her house once, leaving a message to call him at the paper. But Jennifer had other plans for the evening, and it would be best for both of them if he didn't know what she was up to. Crush's pompous voice caught her ear.

"And before I give Anna Green time for her closing remarks, I'd like to say that our country has been ruined by a warped view of personal freedoms. Words are dangerous in the hands of dangerous people. Freedom of speech should be reserved for those who think through their actions, who understand the consequences. Publishers, television networks and magazines that are willing to destroy the fabric of this great country so that they can reap huge profits should not be allowed to do so."

Jennifer checked her watch. It was ten o'clock, and Crush was scheduled to continue with his show until eleven. She had an hour to break into his house and find the goods on him. An hour.

She'd chosen black jeans and a black T-shirt, even though she felt slightly covert just looking at herself in the mirror. Maybe she needed some of that black stuff under her eyes. She caught Familiar's reflection behind her, and he was giving her a speculative look.

"Don't even think about it," she warned him. "I'll be lucky to escape alive, and I refuse to have to worry about you. You're staying here."

The black feline twitched his tail and yawned.

He'd eaten half a pound of fresh shrimp sautéed in butter and wine, and Jennifer grinned at her own deviousness. She'd deliberately fed him well in the hopes of fostering the need for a nap. Heck, it worked for her. She picked him up and put him on the green velvet sofa he seemed to prefer. His purr was a buzz saw as she stroked and scratched him until he curled into a snugly ball and closed his eyes. Just to be on the safe side, she sat down with a magazine in her hand. Not ten minutes later, the cat was sound asleep.

Carefully putting the magazine on the floor, Jennifer crept from the room. At the doorway she turned back. The cat was still snoozing. She'd taken the precaution of leaving her keys in the car so they wouldn't rattle. Based on his past actions, Familiar was not a cat to be underestimated.

With a sigh, she eased out the back door and crept along the drive to her car. She failed to notice the dark shadow that clung to her right leg and popped into the back seat as she slid behind the wheel.

Crush's home was in an older section of town. The houses were neatly painted clapboard with big porches, enormous screened windows and yards at least an acre or two in size. They were from a time when people sat on the front porch and visited with neighbors strolling by or watched children safely riding their bicycles along the sidewalk. It wasn't a neighborhood of brick homes, or tennis courts or hidden swimming pools. Even better, there were basketball backboards nailed to tall pines and huge old shrubs that made perfect hiding places for games of hide-and-seek and cops and robbers.

Jennifer parked a block from his house, pocketing her keys but leaving the car unlocked and a window down. As she got out she caught a sudden movement from behind a large oak.

For a split second it seemed as if her heart had stopped beating. She tasted acid and knew it was fear. Someone was hiding behind the large oak on the corner, watching her.

She tried to calm herself with the idea that J. P. Frost had gone back on his word and was following her. She'd finally convinced Mimi's father to give her a chance to do a little detective work before he took any rash actions. The poor man was distraught with worry over his little girl, and he wasn't exactly rational.