by Savannah Mae
Ben smiled. “Are you ready for this?”
“Obviously,” I groaned.
“The Jinx sisters invited this Artemel girl to go with them to Hog’s Nest. She went to them for help because she was having vivid dreams and thought she was hearing voices. Dude, she never came back,” Ben explained.
“Did you just call me ‘dude’?” I asked. He knew I didn’t like to be called that.
“Will you focus?” he asked in frustration. “Sorry, but did you hear what I said? The Jinx sisters took some girl and who knows what they did with her!”
I moved the laptop in front of me to read the whole article.
Ben waited impatiently, tapping his foot and huffing and puffing while I read it over a couple of times to be sure I’d read it right.
“So, they invited her to Hog’s Nest and no one ever heard from her again? I don’t understand. Did they think the Jinx sisters did something to her?” I asked.
“That’s the best part!” Ben jumped up and grabbed the laptop to bring up another article. “Look at this article. The whole state thought the Jinx sisters had something to do with her disappearance. It’s obvious. They were the last people seen with her, but no one ever found a body. There was no evidence a crime had happened, so the case went nowhere. They got away with it!”
“Who got away with what?” My father stepped into the kitchen with my mother closely behind him.
I looked at Ben, trying to warn him not to say anything, but it was too late. He dove right into the story.
“In 1979, the Jinx sisters kidnapped someone. Do you remember that?” he asked.
My mother’s face went pale.
My father’s eyes widened. “Where did you hear that story?”
Ben pointed to the laptop. “I found it online. Look!”
“I don’t need to look. I remember it, don’t you, Nelly?” He turned to my mother, who looked visibly shaken.
She answered, her voice low, “I do remember. They never found her.”
My father poured himself a cup of coffee and leaned on the counter before speaking. “Most of what you’re reading is probably not true. There were a lot of rumors, but no one could actually prove anything happened to Artemel.” He assessed my mother. “Sit down, dear.”
I stood up to allow my mother to sit on my seat.
“Artemel was an odd character. She lived just outside of town over by Knob Hill. She was a loner. Kept to herself most of the time. Her parents were up in age, as I recall. I felt sorry for her because she never quite fit in around here,” he recalled.
My mother weighed in with her thoughts. “She was troubled. I honestly never believed that the Jinx sisters did anything to her. There was an investigation, but nothing ever became of it. Sure, there were rumors and all sorts of tales being told, but no one ever really knew what happened that night. Personally, I think Artemel ran away. Her parents left town soon after. There was never another word about it after they left.”
“Well, there was,” my father started. “People didn’t let go so easily. After the big debacle, things calmed down.”
“What big debacle?” Ben asked.
My mother cleared her throat. “Well, it was silly really. Someone started a rumor about human sacrifice and that caught on. Soon, everyone started to believe that the Jinx sisters had sacrificed her for some ritual.
My father finished the story. “Hundreds of years ago, there were sacrifices or stories of sacrificing young women.”
“Who did that and why?” I asked.
“Witches,” my mother answered. “They said that when a young, pure woman came of age, she would be sacrificed for them to survive and gain more powers. It was nonsense. After the Jinx sisters got word of those vicious rumors, they put a stop to it with some of their magic or whatever you call it and the stories went away, just like that!”
“Just like that?” I asked.
My father nodded. “They took care of it the only way they knew how.”
Chapter Eight
After sitting outside his office for two hours, I’d had enough. “I’ll say it again, why don’t we go inside and talk to him? Sitting out here like stalkers isn’t doing us any good. What are we waiting for?”
Ben hushed me. “Shh! We’re waiting for him to come outside so we can follow him and see where he lives.”
I’d heard this before and still wasn’t convinced this was the best plan. “Jinx Cove is a small town. We know where everyone lives, so isn’t it obvious he doesn’t live in town? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out, does it?” I groaned.
“Melanie, I know he doesn’t live in town. That’s not the point.” Ben craned his neck to look around to the side of the nondescript building a half mile down the road from the college, where Ben taught.
“What else is in this building? After the mortgage company closed, what moved into it?” I asked, remembering that the mortgage company was the largest employer in town for many years.
Ben squinted as he tried to recall. “I think most of it is empty. I didn’t know anyone had moved in there. Zephyr probably got a good deal and a nice suite of offices for his business.”
“I’m sure he did,” I quipped.
I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. The front entrance doors opened slowly.
“Look!” I alerted Ben to the movement, but he beat me to it, his eyes were locked in at the entrance.
“C’mon. Come out,” Ben whispered.
“What do we do?” I worried we’d be seen.
“Stay here. We’re not doing anything wrong. It’s a parking lot. We’re parked,” Ben pointed out.
A woman walked out of the building, her head down. Following her, a tall, thin man, wearing a dark suit carried a large box in his arms.
“Who are they?” I didn’t recognize either of them.
“I know her.” Ben squinted to get a better look. “I’ve seen her around town.”
“Who is she?” I asked.
They walked to the parking lot, keeping their eyes cast down.
I ducked to stay out of their line of vision, while Ben remained sitting with his head hanging out the window.
“They’re going to see you,” I warned him.
“Good.” He opened his door and jumped out, startling the man and woman.
Oh, here we go! Why, Ben, why?
I stepped out to offer apologies on Ben’s behalf, but he already had them engaged in a pleasant conversation.
“Hi!” I waved to them as I walked up to stand next to Ben.
The man nodded, still holding the box in his arms.
The woman smiled and replied with a tentative greeting. “Hello.”
Ben turned to speak to me. “Hey, Melanie, did you know that Mr. Willis bought this whole complex? His offices are in here. Isn’t that something?”
Whoa! Ben was good at this private eye stuff.
“He does?” I asked him.
The woman seemed eager to tell me all about Zephyr. “He sure did. It’s a great place to work, even if the hours can be a little long sometimes. So, when is your interview?”
I looked at Ben. “My interview?”
He put his hand on my back. “Yeah, did I forget to tell you? They called to schedule an interview with you today, dear.”
Who was this guy and what did he do with my friend Ben?
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
The woman giggled nervously. “Isn’t that just like a man to forget to give you an important message? Whenever it is, I’m sure you’ll do fine. Zephyr’s wife-”
The man interrupted her. “You mean assistant. She’s his wife and personal assistant. She handles all the new hires.”
A new hire? What did Ben tell these people?
“What was her name again? I can’t believe I forgot.” Ben pretended he couldn’t remember her name.
“Yvette. Her name is Yvette. She’s okay. She comes off a little harsh, but she really is a good person. It must have
been so difficult for her to move across the country and start a new business here - so far away from her family.” The woman shook her head sympathetically.
Ben stood with a ridiculous grin plastered on his face. I could see the panic in his eyes. He hoped I’d jump on board his crazy train and go along with his story. As much as I enjoyed watching him sweat a little longer, I wanted to get as far away as I could and the only way to do that would be to say something to save him.
“Oh, I’m sorry, dear. Is that what you were trying to tell me? I really should pay more attention when you’re talking to me. Maybe if you helped clean up after yourself, I could focus more on what you’re saying and not on having to wipe every surface that you’ve soiled with whatever fattening food you could scrounge up from the cupboards.” I smiled a broad smile at Ben to show him that two could play his dangerous game.
He didn’t flinch. “You’re right. I should do more to help. I suppose, if you stopped complaining, I’d be more inclined to want to vacuum occasionally.”
Touché!
The couple squirmed uncomfortably where they stood. I almost felt sorry for them, but I couldn’t stop myself from continuing our little ruse.
“You used to be the man I could count on. What happened to you?” I strained to make my voice shake with emotion.
Ben couldn’t take it anymore. He burst out laughing.
The man and woman said their goodbyes and walked in a heated rush to their respective cars, leaving us squabbling over which one of us took things too far.
“You are nuts. Where did you come up with that stuff?” Ben asked, laughing.
I waited until the two employees drove out of the lot before I told Ben what I thought of his charade.
He waved at the woman as she peeled her car onto the street. “I think you scared them away, dear.”
“Have you lost your mind? Why would you make up a story like that? Why did you jump out of the car and rush up to them in the first place?” I couldn’t believe what had just happened.
“I was looking for information. Did you have a better plan? Nope! You didn’t. Let’s see, weren’t you the one ducked down low in her seat?” Ben teased me, mimicking the way I lowered myself below the dashboard so the people walking out of the building wouldn’t be able to see me.
I had to laugh. I bet I did look ridiculous, but Ben didn’t look much better.
“So, who did you tell them I was?” I asked him in between giggles.
“My wife,” Ben answered, laughing harder.
I gulped, taken aback by that statement. “Your wife? Really?” I scrunched up my nose. “That’s just gross!”
Ben’s expression changed. “Why is that gross? In some circles, I’m hot stuff.”
I rolled my eyes. “What happens at the zoo, should stay at the zoo, you baboon.”
He pretended to be hurt by my remark, holding his hand over his heart. “Okay. Now what’s the plan?” I asked, looking back at the building. There were several cars sitting in the lot. I assumed they belonged to other employees.
“Well, we know that Zephyr and his wife own the whole building, so that’s a start. Now, all we must do is figure out where they live,” Ben answered.
“Why? Why do I need to know where he lives? How is that going to solve anything?” I asked, still confused about why he deemed that information to be pertinent.
“I don’t know, but I get the feeling we might need to know. I’ve been here my whole life and I never saw this man or heard his name until he showed up at your parent’s house,” Ben said.
“All I want is to talk to him and see what I can do to help my parents. I can’t stand the idea that all of this is happening because of me. I wish I’d known what they were doing. I could have easily gone to school here or at any of the state schools.” I hated myself for being so selfish and never once considering what kind of sacrifices my parents were making.
“This isn’t your fault. Parents are supposed to make sacrifices for their kids. I don’t think they went into this without knowing the risks involved. Besides, you always wanted to go to that school. Imagine how miserable you would have been at a traditional college.” Ben stopped talking, turning his attention to the sky above. “They’re back.”
I looked up to see that the vultures had returned. They flew in circles in the skies, oblivious to us for the time being.
“Where did they come from?” I asked.
“The question is, where have they been? I can’t wait to find out what the deal is with them. Don’t they remind you of that movie?” Ben asked.
“Don’t say it. You’ll freak me out.” I put my hand in front of his face to stop him from saying the name of the movie that forever changed the way I looked at birds.
Ben had stopped paying attention to me and focused his attention on the vultures, pulling out his cell phone to record them.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I’m going to get this on film and show it to one of my colleagues at work,” he said.
“Okay. Why?” I asked, keeping my eye on the vultures in case they decided to take a bite out of me or Ben.
He continued recording them for a couple of minutes, stopping when the front entrance doors opened again.
“There he is,” I whispered, using my hands to shield my face.
Ben turned the camera to face the front entrance.
I was horrified. “Stop that! You can’t film him!”
“Why not?” Ben asked, moving closer to Zephyr as he walked to his car with his phone to his ear. “Go to the car, Melanie. I’m going to talk to him.”
“You’re what? You can’t talk to him. What are you going to say?” I tried to convince him to walk away with me, but he was determined to speak to Zephyr and reason with him.
“Go to the car, Melanie,” Ben said over his shoulder.
I never moved so fast in all my life. I wanted nothing to do with this. It was true that I wanted to speak to Zephyr directly, but not after I’d been caught red-handed recording him and speaking to two of his employees.
Ben had a knack for putting people at ease. It was his gift. People loved him. He made friends nearly everywhere he went.
I closed the car door behind me and took a few deep breaths to calm my nerves before daring to look up and see how their exchange was going. When I did get the nerve to open my eyes, what I saw surprised me.
Zephyr had his hand on Ben’s shoulder. Both had smiles on their faces, seeming to be enjoying their conversation.
“Give me a break,” I groaned. “How does he do that? How does he get people to speak to him and not question his motives?”
Their casual chat did nothing to ease my stress levels. I waited impatiently, trying to act disinterested, as if we’d come here often to stalk an evil man.
My mind floated to memories of the conversation we had with Miss Maita and what she had to say about Zephyr and his business dealings. I wondered how many other people had fallen prey to his unscrupulous business practices. I didn’t yet know how my parents had met him in the first place. And, my parents were no fools. They never did anything without investigating all the ins and outs of it. How they ended up with a deal with Zephyr was beyond me. He didn’t look like anyone my parents would have ever considered spending time with.
Lost in thought, I hadn’t noticed when Ben and Zephyr moved. A quick rap on the window and my heart leaped out of my throat.
“Hey, open up!” Ben tapped on my window.
Flustered, I turned the key in the ignition and powered my window down. “Where did you come from? You about gave me a heart attack.”
Ben tried to give me a signal, raising his eyebrows, but I hadn’t recovered yet, so I couldn’t concentrate on what he tried to tell me.
“Well, hello. You’re the Abney girl, aren’t you? I thought I recognized you.” Zephyr offered me his hand.
Nope. No way. I wasn’t going to shake his hand.
“Yes. Ned and Nelly are my parents,” I
answered him dryly, refusing to acknowledge having met him previously.
Realizing I had no intention of shaking his hand, he pulled his hand back, placing it in his pocket. “I want you to know that I admire your parents. They’re good people.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s encouraging,” I groaned.
Ben cleared his throat. “Yeah, they are great people. I’ve known them my whole life. They’re the best.”
“There sure aren’t enough people like them around, are there?” Zephyr looked away, seemingly distracted.
I followed his gaze. It moved from the still hovering vultures to a car driving down the street, moving in our direction.
“Ah, good,” he muttered under his breath.
Ben and I looked at each other before we heard a sound that would stop anyone’s heart.
Uh-oh!
The blaring sirens were hard to miss in this quiet town. Normally, we only heard them when the local sheriff felt like ruffling a few feathers or someone got a little out of hand after a college football game.
Zephyr sauntered over to Sheriff Boss puffing his chest out like a proud peacock.
“He called the police?” It was obvious he had, but I didn’t know what else to say.
I watched in the rearview mirror as Zephyr made his case. I could only imagine what he had to say to Sheriff Boss. I knew coming here was a bad idea.
Sheriff Boss was a portly gentleman, kind if you were on his good side, but after twenty-five years of life here in Jinx Cove, I’d yet to meet his good side. It was kind of an urban legend, a local myth. Yep, Sheriff Boss was a bona fide unicorn.
I didn’t have to see him to know he had moved closer to me. The cigarette smell invaded my nostrils. He had to have exited his vehicle by now.
I turned to look out the window, donning my brightest smile, hoping that would ease the tension.
“Well, look who it is. Abney and Silva, the dynamic duo.” He coughed as he laughed. “You mind explaining why you are following people and taking their pictures without their permission.”
Ben tried to use his charm. “Nice to see you again, Sheriff Boss. What’s it been - two or three days? How’s Mrs. Boss?”