Max & Me Mysteries Set

by Patricia H. Rushford

  “Bring it.” I wasn’t sure why, but every good detective needs a camera, and mine, thanks to a certain seagull, was at the bottom of the lake.

  “Okay.”

  While I waited for Cooper, I went downstairs to look for Mom again and found her down by the dock watching Sam and the twins sail their boats in the shallow water. She had her easel set up and had started painting a background on a fresh canvas.

  “Cooper is coming over,” I said. “I was thinking about riding my bike into town.”

  She sighed. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Jessie.” Worry lines made a V between her eyebrows.

  “I’ll be fine. If I get tired, I can call you to come get me.”

  Her gaze scanned my face, my clothes, and my feet. She was going to say no. “Dad would let me.”

  “I’m sure he would.” The corners of her mouth turned up in a smile, but her eyes were still sad. “What would you do?”

  “Just go into town. Maybe get chocolate-dipped strawberries at Cavanaugh’s.” I didn’t tell her about my wanting to ask certain people questions.

  “All right.” She sighed again. “I suppose you can. I guess I’d be restless, too, if my best friend was missing.”

  “Yes!” I made a fist for emphasis.

  She bit on her lower lip. “You and Cooper are going to look for Max, aren’t you?”

  I raised my head a little too fast. “I might. If she did run away, which I doubt, I know some places she might hide.”

  Mom nodded. “Just be careful. I want to talk to Cooper before you leave.”

  “Sure.” I rolled my eyes as I turned back toward the house.

  She’d give Cooper the same lecture she’d given Max about how fragile I was and how they needed to make sure I didn’t overdo. But at least she’d said I could go. That was something.

  I headed back inside. Up in my room I pulled a backpack out of my closet and stuffed in some things I might need. I had to bring my antibacterial hand cleaner, a face mask, and sunscreen. I put some of the sunscreen on my face and arms and dropped it into the bag. I also tucked in binoculars and a pad and pen, thinking I might need to take notes. I felt a little silly as I thought about what the girl detectives I’d read about would do in a case like this. Both Nancy Drew and Jennie McGrady would have had the case solved by now. But they weren’t real, and they didn’t have to worry about getting sick. I pushed the thoughts away. I wasn’t a detective, but I had to figure out what was going on. Max’s life, and maybe Amelia’s, depended on it.

  Cooper rang the doorbell just as my foot hit the last step on the stairs. I opened the door and took a step back. The guy standing on my doorstep couldn’t have been Cooper Smally Well, it was, but he had lost about forty pounds and grown at least two inches. “Um.” I closed my mouth, embarrassed by the look I must have had on my face. “Wow,” I managed to say. Cooper was actually pretty cute. “You look … different.”

  His red cheeks told me he was either sunburned or embarrassed. I suspected the latter. He looked down at me and crossed his arms. “You doing okay?”

  “Yeah.” I motioned for him to come in. “My mom wants to talk to you before we go.”

  “Look, I don’t think you should ride your bike. You’ve only been out of the hospital for a couple of days, right?”

  “How did you know?”

  “I talked to Max last night.”

  “So you knew about the accident and everything?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “You could have said something.”

  He shrugged, and when he didn’t respond, I led him through the house and into the backyard.

  “Hi, Mrs. Miller,” he said.

  Mom did a double take when she saw him, but didn’t comment. “Hi, Cooper. How was your trip to Oregon?”

  “Good.” He nodded.

  “Jessie tells me you two are going to look for Max. That’s fine, but please keep in mind that she has a tendency to do too much.”

  “Don’t worry, Mrs. Miller. I brought a bike buggy for Jessie to ride in. I figured she’d never make it into town on her own.”

  Mom smiled. “Good thinking.” She tossed me a look that said she thought I was in good hands.

  A few minutes later, I started across the lawn, trying not to feel annoyed. One of these days I’d be able to go somewhere and do something without my family and friends thinking I was breakable. “Come on. We need to get going.”

  I climbed into the buggy, glad it had a cover so no one could see me. If I’d been much bigger, I wouldn’t have fit into it, but it was actually pretty comfortable, and after a while I was glad to have the ride. I even unzipped the cover so I could see better.

  When we got into town, Cooper stopped in front of the tea shop. Ivy was working, so I told her the news about Max, but she’d already heard. “The police were here asking about her.” She rested her arms on the top of the counter, her eyes swooping over to Cooper and then back to me. “Do you think she ran away?”

  “Not unless someone was after her.” My gaze roamed down to the chocolate-dipped strawberries. I asked for four. After paying for them, I offered two to Cooper. “We decided to look for Max just in case,” I said to Ivy.

  “Thanks,” Cooper said. “I’ll be outside when you’re ready.” He popped one of the strawberries into his mouth and once outside tossed the stem into a trash can.

  “What’s with him?” Ivy asked, her admiring gaze still following him.

  I shrugged. “I have no idea.”

  “He sure has changed.”

  “I hadn’t noticed,” I teased as I ate one of the juicy berries. They were extra good this time of year, probably because the berries were grown just outside of town.

  I frowned. “Do you know anything about Max? Did the police say anything when they came in?” A lot of people came into the Tea and Candy Shoppe since it was one of the best places around for lunch, desserts, coffee, and tea. Right now there were three women in the farthest corner, wearing red hats with purple feathers and laughing.

  “One thing. I don’t know if it will help. They found the truck that hit her yesterday. It was parked in the lot at Hansons grocery store in Lakeside. It had been stolen from one of the migrant worker families. They’d reported it missing yesterday.”

  “None of this makes sense. If you hear anything let me know.”

  “I will.” She lowered her voice as a man came into the shop. “I have to get back to work. Let me know if you hear anything.”

  I turned around and nearly bumped into a heavyset man with silver hair. He took hold of my shoulder with his left hand to steady me. “Whoa there.” He chuckled. “You’re Jessie Miller, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah.”

  He let me go. “Charlie O’Donnell. O’Donnell Realty. I know your folks.”

  “Oh, right.” I smiled back. “You’re a friend of Mrs. Truesdale’s, aren’t you?”

  Cooper came in and stood behind Charlie, wanting to know what I wanted to do. Since Charlie had been on my list of people to talk to, I decided this might be a good time. “I can’t believe how lucky we are,” I said. “Cooper and I would like to ask you about Amelia.”

  His expression changed to one of concern. “Hmm. Yes. Nasty business, that. I was just going to have my afternoon coffee. Why don’t you join me?”

  Cooper and I followed him to a table by the window and sat across from him.

  I wanted to come right out and ask him what he’d done with Max. Instead, I asked if he knew that Max was missing.

  “I think everyone in town knows about the girl.” He folded his paper and rested his thick arms on the table.

  I could tell from his build that he wasn’t the man Max and I had seen leave Amelia’s house that night. Of course, that didn’t mean he couldn’t have hired someone. “Do you know of anyone who might want Amelia’s land enough to force her to leave? I mean, when you look at all that’s happened, her tire slashed, her house broken into, her roadside stand vandalized, and t
hen Max getting hit … it seems like someone wants to force Amelia to leave her farm.”

  He pushed his cheek out with his tongue. “I know a lot of people who wouldn’t mind having that property, but not one of them would ever think about causing her harm.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  He smiled. “The sheriff just asked me the same thing. I gave him a list of the people I know of who’ve shown an interest in Amelia’s land for the last year. I imagine they’ll sort through it. It might be a good idea if you just let them take care of it.”

  I didn’t think I’d get anything else out of him, but I did have one more question. “How much is the land worth?”

  He rubbed his chin, and for a second, I didn’t think he’d answer me. “Well, that depends. There was a developer from California a while back who was willing to pay $15 million. I took his offer to Amelia, but she turned it down flat.”

  Cooper whistled. “That’s a lot of money.”

  “You bet it is.” Charlie clucked his tongue and shook his head. “Personally, I think the woman is crazy. Deals like that don’t come along every day, and sooner or later she’s going to have to sell. She’s no spring chicken, you know.”

  “Huh?” Cooper frowned.

  “It means she’s old,” I said.

  “Oh.”

  Charlie leaned back when Ivy brought his coffee and a scone. He lifted his cup and inhaled. I couldn’t see what was so special about coffee. Mom tells me I’ll change my mind someday, but I doubt it. “This guy from California, where is he now?”

  The corners of Charlie’s mouth turned down. “I have no idea.”

  “What did he look like?” I asked.

  “Light brown hair, about five ten, brown eyes. Nice-looking fellow.”

  That described half the men in town, including my father. “Has Max talked to you in the last day or two?”

  He pursed his lips, took a sip, and let out a sigh. “I haven’t seen your friend. Like I said, I hope the police are able to locate her. Now if you don’t mind …”

  I nodded. “Come on, Coop, let’s go see if the sheriff has learned anything.” I turned back and thanked Charlie even though he hadn’t given me all that much information.

  We got even less information from the sheriff. He hadn’t found Max, and he told Cooper and me that we should mind our own business. He reminded me about the last time I’d tried to play detective. “You might not be so lucky next time.”

  I don’t like being reminded of my foolish choices. And he seemed to forget that if it hadn’t been for me, the cops might not have caught those drug dealers.

  When we got back to Cooper’s bike, he suggested we ride up to the waterfalls.

  “That’s a good idea.” I’d found Max there once after her uncle had used her for a punching bag. “If she did run away, she might be hiding from somebody, and there are a lot of places to hide in the park.”

  “There are a lot of places to hide around here, period. Max could be anywhere.” There was something in his tone that told me he was as worried as I was.

  We didn’t find her at the park or see any sign of her in the places where she liked to hang out.

  “I should take you back home, Jessie.” Cooper tipped his head to one side and gave me an I’m-worried-about-you look.

  “We can’t give up. Besides, we haven’t looked everywhere.”

  I closed my eyes and rested the whole way back to my house. I had talked Cooper into rowing the boat over to Amelia’s place. I really needed to find out what the guy took from the attic, and I wanted a chance to look around for Max.

  “I want to see how Amelia is doing,” I told Mom once we got to my house. “She’s probably really worried, and I bet she could use the company.”

  “That’s a nice gesture.” Mom hugged me. “I may try to go over later. Tell her we’re praying.”

  “I will.” I fed Cooper and me tuna sandwiches, some carrot sticks, and an apple. When we’d eaten, I grabbed a couple of bottles of water, some crackers, and cheese sticks and stuffed them in my backpack. I wasn’t sure how long the trip would take because I planned on searching the farm for Max or for clues that might tell us where she was.

  We put on life jackets and climbed into the boat. The lake was calm and the surface smooth. Cooper rowed and I trailed my hand in the water. One thing hadn’t changed about Cooper. He still didn’t say a lot, which was okay with me.

  After a while my curiosity got the best of me. “How did you lose so much weight, Cooper? I mean, you’ve changed so much, I almost didn’t recognize you.”

  He snorted. “My dad and I went to a camp for fat people. He said it was time for both of us to start eating healthy and lose weight.”

  I smiled. “It worked. Did he lose weight too?”

  “Yeah.” Cooper didn’t seem to want to talk about it, so I dropped the subject.

  After a while, Cooper rested the oars on his knees and took a drink of the bottled water. “Max said the bone marrow transplant was supposed to keep you from getting sick again.”

  The sun was shining in my eyes, and I looked at him through narrow slits. “We’re hoping,” I said.

  He nodded. “You look better. Not so pale.”

  I laughed. “Probably because I’ve been in the sun a lot the last few days.”

  He picked up the oars and started rowing again. Several minutes later he asked, “Why do you think Max decided to move in with Mrs. Truesdale?”

  “I’m not sure. Max told me she thought Amelia could use someone to help her out. Maybe Max wants a family of her own.”

  “Hard to think of Mrs. Truesdale and Max as a family. A family is a mom and dad and kids. Like yours.”

  “Hmm. I guess I never really thought about that. You and your dad are a family.”

  “Not anymore.”

  “Sure you are. Just because your mom died doesn’t mean you stop being a family.” Seeing the hurt look on Cooper’s face, I wished I could have taken the words back. “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?” Cooper turned away from me and stared at the shoreline. He didn’t speak again until we rowed up to Amelia’s dock.

  Amelia must have seen us coming because she was heading toward us waving. Molly trotted ahead, barking and wagging her tail. “Jessie, your mother called to tell me you and Cooper were coming. I’m glad you’re here.” She helped Cooper tie the boat up and waited for us to climb out onto the dock. “I’ve been baking most of the day. Are you interested in some blackberry shortcake?”

  “Sure,” Cooper said.

  “I just ate, but I’d like some tea.” Being on the lake had given me chills. I ended up eating a small piece of scone though, which she’d topped with whipped cream.

  Once we’d eaten, I asked Amelia if she had ever gone up in the attic to look around. “Maybe if you knew what that guy took, you’d know who did all the other stuff.” And who took Max. I didn’t say the last part out loud. I worried that the guy who had run her off the road had come back to finish the job. Please, God, let Max be safe.

  “I haven’t had a chance.” Amelia took the dishes to the sink and washed the crumbs off the table. “But it’s a good idea. Why don’t the two of you come up with me?”

  I followed them up to the second floor without much trouble, but halfway up to the attic, my knees gave out. Cooper came back and took me piggyback the rest of the way. When we got to the top, he straightened and I slid off his back. “Thanks,” I said. “Sorry to be so much trouble.” I adjusted my denim hat.

  “You’re light.” Cooper looked me over. “Are you sure you want to do this? Your mom said you were supposed to take it easy.”

  “I’m fine.” I sounded snippy, but did everyone think they had to feel responsible for me?

  “Okay.” He lifted his hands in surrender. “Forget I asked.”

  Sunlight filtered in through four dirty windows. Amelia made her way to the center of the room and pulled a cord, switching on the bare lightbulb. A thick layer of du
st covered everything. The first thing I noticed was the two sets of footprints leading to an old trunk. I pointed them out to Amelia. “Did the deputy walk around in here?”

  “No. He just stood on the stairs and shined the flashlight around. I doubt he could even see them from where he was standing.”

  The larger set of prints probably belonged to the man who’d been in the attic our first night there. The second set was much smaller, and I guessed they belonged to Max. Which meant she’d been up here without Amelia. Maybe Max had been doing some detective work on her own. Maybe she found something she shouldn’t have. I pointed the footprints out to Amelia.

  “It’s possible Max came up here,” Amelia said. “I don’t really mind, but I wish she’d have said something.”

  “She might have been looking for clues.” I followed Amelia and Cooper to the trunk.

  Amelia knelt down in front of it. “I’m not sure I could tell if anything is missing. I don’t even remember what all was in here. This was my father’s. I did go through some of his things years and years ago.” She frowned and moved some papers around. “Something is missing, Jessie. The map and a journal. It’s a surveyor’s map, and it was rolled up in a canister.”

  “Why would anyone take a map?” Cooper asked.

  “This wasn’t just any map. My grandfather found gold here back in the 1800s, or so the story goes. As I recall, he mined for several years, but he put more money into mining than he made by selling the gold. Eventually, the vein ran out, and he went back to farming. I haven’t thought about that mine in years.”

  “Does your son know about it?” I asked.

  She nodded. “My father used to tell him stories, but Freddy wouldn’t have broken in here to steal the map. As I said before, all he had to do was ask.”

  “So, the map tells where the mine is—sort of like a treasure map?” Cooper rocked back on his heels.

  “I suppose so.” Amelia sorted through the other paraphernalia in the trunk before closing it and letting Cooper help her up.

  “Does Charlie know about the map or the mine?” I asked.

  “I don’t know.” Amelia dusted off her jeans. “I suppose some of the old-timers around here might know. My grandfather hired a few men to work the mine. Like I said, he closed it down after a while because there was no profit in it.”