Fear Familiar Bundle (175 page)

"Is that how the children really see me?" Crush addressed his question to Judy.

"You make my parents argue with each other. Especially when you talk about women. My mother wants to get a job. She's tired of staying home. But my dad says her job is to stay home and cook. That's not fair. And he uses what you say as if it came from the Bible. It makes my mother cry." Judy's temper was on the rise. "What you do is wrong. It hurts people."

"I see."

"I think you've made your point, Judy," Jennifer said as she shifted to her knees. "I think I owe Crush an apology. Not so much for what I've said, but for what I've thought." She handed him the page. "This is ninety-nine. The one after the missing one. It's about a little girl who gets turned to a pillar of salt for being nosy." She smiled, a sad, weary smile. "I honestly thought you'd taken the children. I even broke into your house and— the telephone!" Her eyes widened and her voice rose. "Who put the portable phone in your house?" She didn't give him a chance to answer. "Eugene has been neatly framed in this whole mess, but so has Crush. Someone went to a lot of trouble to set him up, hoping that we would put the pieces of the puzzle together. Look— the phone, the attacks, now this manuscript!" She turned to James.

His dark eyes were blazing. "You're right. Someone has just as neatly drawn the noose around Crush's neck. And we've played right into their hands. We've spent all of our time trying to convict Crush, when we've been sniffing a false trail."

"What are you talking about? What telephone? And someone owes me for a very unpleasant cleaning task. How did you manage to get that blood all over the bedroom floor upstairs?"

"Someone knocked me out," James said, and then explained the portable telephone that belonged to Mimi Frost's father. And the fact that they'd found it in his washing machine.

"Is Frost involved?" Crush asked.

James and Jennifer both shook their heads. "I don't believe so. At first I thought it was surely him. You know, one of those custody battle things. But I don't believe he'd do such a thing. And he's as worried about Mimi as we are."

Judy gave them a disgusted look. "Mr. Frost would never do anything to frighten Mimi or Mrs. Frost. He's not a dork."

"Thank you, Judy, for that astute observation." James got to his feet and gave the manuscript page to Crush. "You might as well hear it all. But I'm going to ask you, on your word of honor, not to broadcast any of this information until we've found the children."

"James!" Jennifer shot to her feet. She might have misjudged Crush's involvement in the kidnapping, but he wasn't to be trusted. He was still a loudmouthed blowhard who made his show spicy by devastating other people's reputations and opinions.

Crush had started to take the page that James held out, but Jennifer's objection made him stop. "You don't think I have any honor, do you?"

"Not where Eugene is involved. I think you'd do whatever you could to destroy him."

Crush took the page. "I'm going to prove you wrong." He looked at Judy. "And you, too. Now, what is all of this about?"

James ignored the hand that Jennifer put on his arm. He told Crush the clues they had pieced together. Crush nodded as James talked.

"I can see why you suspected me. So, pages of manuscript, page ninety-eight." Crush sat forward and automatically picked up his milk. He held the plate of cookies and offered them to James and Jennifer, then Judy.

"What about Familiar?" Judy's look was meant to intimidate, and it worked beautifully.

"Oh, okay." He held the plate to the cat who swatted a single cookie onto the floor and began delicately eating the chocolate shell around the cake filling. "I haven't really thought this thing through, but it would appear that whoever is out to get Eugene is also out to get me. The question we have to answer is, who is our mutual enemy?"

"Any possibilities?" James asked.

Crush smiled, one of genuine amusement. "Not the first. Eugene and I are, philosophically, intellectually, and socially, in opposite camps. It would seem that his enemies would be my friends. This doesn't make an ounce of sense."

"No, it doesn't." Jennifer picked up another cookie and began munching it. "I haven't a single— "

The shrill of the telephone interrupted them.

Crush automatically checked his watch. "It's only ten o'clock, but…still." He got to his feet, a worried frown on his face. "Who could this be?"

Jennifer watched closely as Crush picked up the telephone on the far end table. His face showed first annoyance, then disbelief, and finally concern. "I see," he said, but he made no mention of his uninvited guests. "Was it an original or a copy?"

After a pause, he spoke again. "I'll go to the station immediately. We can coordinate television and radio, and I'm sure the newspaper will agree to help." He gave James a look. "Yes, I'm leaving momentarily. Tell Anna to meet me at the station." He replaced the receiver.

"What's going on?" Judy asked. She hadn't missed a moment.

Crush hesitated. "That was Chief Bixley. Anna Green's young daughter has been kidnapped. They found a page of Eugene's manuscript in her bed. She was abducted from her own home while the baby-sitter was watching television. Anna was making a speech in Chickasaw."

"What page of what manuscript?"

"Page ninety-eight of
Pinch of Curiosity.
" Crush stared at the manuscript page he held. "Exactly the one that is missing from this manuscript. And Chief Bixley said it was indeed a photocopied page." Crush pointed to the manuscript. "Both Eugene and I have been perfectly framed."

Anna Green arrived at the radio station in a swirl of red and blue lights. Craig Bixley, all arrogance replaced by dread and helplessness, stood beside her. Bixley didn't even cast a curious glance at James and Jennifer sitting on a couch beside the young girl and a black cat.

"I can't believe they've taken Amber." Anna covered her face. "It's those crazy, liberal, book people. They've taken my child in retaliation for the strong stand I've taken against violence. They're punishing me because I dared to confront them."

"I don't think so, Anna." Crush walked up to her. "Maybe you should stop this foolishness. The person who took Amber isn't some vengeful bookworm. There's someone out there kidnapping children, and it isn't about books."

"What are you saying? Who else could have taken her?" Anna looked around the room, her anger finally settling on Jennifer. "Are you here to gloat?"

"Hardly." Jennifer rose slowly. "I'm here to help you find your daughter, and the other missing children. But we're going to have to put our differences aside to try to put this puzzle together."

"She's right. We've been wrong about Eugene. I don't think he has anything to do with these children. And I don't think it has a thing to do with his books. There's something else at work here. Some type of revenge. Against Eugene, and me, and possibly you. Maybe against several different people. That's what we have to figure out."

"But— "

"No buts, Anna. This has gone far beyond a platform to launch your political campaign."

"You're scaring me, Crush."

Bixley stepped up to Anna's side. "Do you know something, Bonbon?" His tone grew threatening. "If you know something about Amber— "

"Can the threats, Bixley." Crush's voice was suddenly tired. "Let's get Anna on the air to make a plea to the kidnappers and then we'll talk about what we need to do. In the meantime, I suggest you listen to James and Jennifer, and the half-pint. They have a few clues and some evidence that may help us find those children. Whoever the abductor is, they aren't afraid of political or police power. And that's frightening in and of itself." He saw the technician in the control room give him the wave. "Come along, Anna. Let's get started."

Craig Bixley gave Anna's hand a supportive squeeze, then he motioned to James and Jennifer to follow him into a private office. "Hey!" Judy stood. "What about me and Familiar?"

Bixley gave them a long look and realized it was easier to acquiesce. "Come along, then," he said, opening the door. "I can't believe that blasted cat goes everywhere you do."

Familiar ignored him as they filed into the room and took seats around a small conference table.

"Now what is that idiot Crush trying to say?" Bixley sat down and placed his hands on the table.

James and Jennifer, with a few interruptions from Judy, had just finished laying out the clues for Bixley when there was a soft tap on the door. A police officer stuck his head around the door and nodded. "Mr. Bonbon asked me to turn on the radio in here. He said there was something coming on the air that might interest all of you."

"Okay."

The uniformed officer entered and went to a wall panel to flip a few switches. Crush's voluminous voice filled the room.

"And here's a caller with some information."

"It has something to do with salt." Eugene's voice was distinct and completely undisguised. "I've been mulling it over and over, and the title of each story figures in prominently with the method of kidnapping. There's a theme. All of the children display curiosity, which is what children are mostly composed of. The good ones, at least. But there is also a common theme in the abductions. This final clue is salt. We have to put everything we know together…because I believe the kidnapper wants us to find the children."

"You think this guy wants to get caught?" Crush asked.

"Indeed. The clues are becoming more and more obvious. Think of it, Crush. This kidnapper now has four children to feed, bathe, clothe and keep from whining. I'd say he or she is ready for them to be found. Now I'm not implying the kidnapper wants to be caught, but I think he's ready to give back the children."

"What could Amber's abduction have to do with salt?" Crush asked.

"I haven't gotten that far along, but I feel very strongly. Salt is one of the key issues. I'll keep working on it."

"Thanks, Mr. Legander." Crush actually sounded sincere. "Anyone else out there got some thoughts about finding these children?"

He fielded several calls before Jennifer got up and turned the sound down low. "I wonder what Eugene has up his sleeve?" she said. "Salt. As in 'pinch of salt.' Curiosity."

"Who could have taken that manuscript from Eugene's house?" Bixley asked, looking at them. "I have to tell you, Eugene is still a suspect. This is all too convenient. Not to mention the fact that I could hit all of you with aiding and abetting charges. You protected Eugene and withheld evidence." He rubbed his jaw. "The trouble is, even Crush is beginning to look suspicious to me. Why didn't he report the incident when you broke into his house?"

Judy sighed and rolled her eyes. "That kid's room is really incriminating. Besides, he got dumped by his girl. That's embarrassing. Two good reasons to keep his mouth shut."

"Good points." Bixley got up from his seat and swiftly exited the room.

"While he's preoccupied, let's get out of here." Jennifer looked at James.

"My thoughts exactly," James said. "Let's make tracks."

"I don't want to go home," Judy said. "This is building up to a climatic end and I'm not going to go home and miss it."

"Trust me, I wouldn't dream of letting you out of my sight," Jennifer said to the girl. "If I have to tie you up and leave you in the trunk of the car, I will. But I'll know where you are every second, until this kidnapper is caught."

"Do you always go around threatening people?" Judy asked. "Eugene said you had a forked tongue, but he didn't warn me that you get off on intimidating innocent children."

"Innocent?" Jennifer turned to the girl, her blue eyes disbelieving. "You call yourself innocent?"

"By the way, I've got something to get off my chest." Judy looked down at her shoes. "I was the person you saw sneaking around Eugene's house. I was casing the area. To protect Eugene."

"You!" Jennifer felt her temper skyrocket. "I've been worried to death. I'm going to chew you up and spit you out like bad baloney!"

"Wait!" Judy held up both hands. "I saw someone there! A small person. Like a woman. I was investigating."

"Why didn't you say so before?" Jennifer demanded.

"Then you would have known how often I was sneaking out of my house. You would have told my parents."

"Let's go, ladies— and I use that term loosely." James put an end to the conversation as he nodded to Craig Bixley, who had begun to take notice of their conversation. "If we don't go now, Bixley may detain us."

Sprinting ahead, Familiar led the way out into the night.

"C
OME IN
,
DARLINGS
." Eugene met them at the door with a silver tray of crystal glasses filled with port. "I knew you'd need a little fortifying liquid as soon as I heard the car stop." He gave James and Jennifer each a glass and waved them into a seat. He handed Judy a glass of chocolate milk and steered her toward the couch. Familiar gave one long look at the kitchen but sat down.

"I've been listening to the radio, and no one has any more ideas about where the children might be."

"If we could only put together what the numeral ninety-eight, kidnapped children, books, and salt have in common." Jennifer held her glass in one hand and rested her chin on the other. She gave Judy a glare. "And don't forget the small person who's been snooping around Eugene's house."

"I think it was a woman." Judy had recovered her poise. "About Anna Green's size."

James sat forward. "Anna could have kidnapped her own daughter, or had her taken. It wouldn't be the first time someone did such a thing."

"To what purpose? There's no motive that I can see. Sympathy? For a vote? Is she going to keep her daughter hostage until the elections?" Eugene was puzzled.

Jennifer's brow was furrowed. "I don't know. But whoever was in Crush Bonbon's house the night we were there was small. A young person or a woman." She shook her head. "It's just that we've wrongly accused Crush, and now we're turning to Anna. I'm not certain she's the criminal behind all of this."

"Perhaps we aren't considering all of the clues," James said. His eyes narrowed. "Ninety-eight is the consistent clue, the one that recurs again and again, even when the kidnapper had to change the page number."