Mobbed

by Carol Higgins Clark

  Harriet grinned. “That guy is too much. His poor dog is exhausted. Did you ever meet a dog that didn’t want to go for a walk?”

  They all laughed.

  “You guys are great,” Rhonda said. “Forget the garage sale. But it’s funny. Frankie just called before. His mother is having a garage sale today, too.”

  “Frankie grew up around here, right?” Striker asked quickly.

  “Yes, in Bay Head.”

  “Does his mother still live there?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did Cleo Paradise rent her house recently?”

  “Yes. How did you know?”

  “How did I know?” Striker asked, his expression astonished. “The company we hired was in charge of that sale as well!”

  “The same company?” Rhonda asked, her eyes widening.

  “Yes! And your fiance’s mother took out an ad in the paper and hired a plane to fly over the beach with one of those banners.”

  Rhonda’s jaw dropped. “I never looked at the newspaper today …”

  “Well, I hope Frankie didn’t have any baseball cards he wanted to save,” Striker said. “Because with that lousy company in charge, you can be sure they’re long gone.”

  69

  Regan and Jack had been waiting in the car for over an hour, and there was no sign of Dizzy or his family. If the woman from the management company had sent Dizzy Regan’s message, he’d obviously ignored it.

  Finally Daisy called back. “I just got free,” she said breathlessly. “Regan, do you have any news?”

  “Cleo’s parents called from Europe. They couldn’t get in touch with her today, either, and are on their way back.”

  “Oh no,” Daisy said softly. “This is not good.”

  “I have to ask you about Cleo’s super,” Regan said, then explained where she was. “I’m surprised he’s here at the Jersey Shore.”

  “Ever since Cleo met Dizzy he talked about the Jersey Shore and how much he loved it. That’s why Cleo decided to rent a house there.”

  “Was he angry with her about the movie?”

  “Not at first. He and Cleo had always been friendly. But so many people started to get mean and make fun of his klutziness after they’d seen the movie. He told Cleo he felt like he was under a microscope. All the teasing started to get to him. The nickname ‘Dizzy’ didn’t help matters. Now there’s a video on the Internet of him trying to put up a beach umbrella? Oh boy. Wait till Cleo hears about this. She felt bad about the way the whole thing snowballed. It was getting really uncomfortable for her in the building. Dizzy’s wife, Monique, was never very nice to her and after the movie came out things got worse. Cleo’s lease is up in October and she’d started looking for another place to live.”

  “Monique wasn’t nice to Cleo?”

  “Not really. Cleo’s a beautiful girl. When she moved into the building two years ago, Dizzy was constantly running to help her, which I’m sure annoyed Monique. After the movie came out, all the attention, positive and negative, really bugged her. A magazine wanted to do a photo shoot with Cleo and Dizzy but his wife put the kibosh on it. Monique isn’t a fan of Cleo’s, that’s for sure.”

  “Does Cleo have a fan club?”

  “Not an official fan club. Why?”

  “A couple people came to the garage sale today who said they were president and vice president of Cleo Paradise’s fan club.”

  “I can’t wait to tell Cleo that,” Daisy said, her voice starting to tremble. “You have to find her, Regan, so I can tell her that.”

  “I know,” Regan answered quietly. “Was Dizzy aware Cleo had rented a place at the Shore?”

  “Yes. She always tried to chat with him, but things weren’t the same lately. When Cleo told him about our plans to go to the Jersey Shore he just said, ‘Oh, that’s nice,’ and walked away. Regan, I’m trying to think of something that Cleo said that could help you find her. I thought she might have started driving to Florida, but we’ll be doing so much driving later that doesn’t make sense. I was planning to fly into Newark. My guess is she probably stayed in the area, but where could she have gone?”

  “The guy who takes care of the pool at Mrs. Frawley’s house thought Cleo probably wouldn’t look for another place near the beach. She told him she’d been knocked over by a wave and it scared her.”

  “She told me that, too. It was late in the afternoon after the lifeguards had left. She said she never would swim in the ocean alone again. If I’d been there, we probably would have gone to the beach a lot,” Daisy said wistfully. “Regan, I think Cleo would want to find somewhere quiet, and I don’t think she’d want to be holed up in a hotel. She likes to jog. And she certainly liked to go camping with her parents. Oh, I don’t know.”

  “Daisy, I just spoke to a friend of mine who told me that she had lunch today in a restaurant in New York City. The actress April Dockton was also at the restaurant—”

  “April Dockton!” Daisy interrupted. “She hates Cleo! She just worked on the movie I’m doing and had to try and strangle me in a scene. She wasn’t acting, I’ll tell you that.”

  Oh great, Regan thought. “I don’t suppose you have her phone number, then.”

  “No. Do you want me to try and get it? Someone in production here must have it.”

  “Sure. I don’t know yet what my pretense for calling her would be, but I’ll think of something.” Then Regan told Daisy about the episode with the Flakes.

  “Flake’s son is a nutcase! He asked Cleo out a number of times but she always turned him down. When she lived in New York City, he’d call and offer to drive her to auditions. Cleo couldn’t stand him.”

  “I can understand why,” Regan said. “He doesn’t exactly ooze charm. Daisy, if you can get April’s number, call me back.”

  “I will, Regan. And I’ll keep thinking.”

  70

  Wilbur opened his eyes when the car stopped moving. He felt like he’d been asleep for a while. “Where are we?” he asked Stix, checking his watch and looking around. It was six o’clock. They were in the parking lot of a small diner on a rural road. The opposite side of the street was heavily wooded.

  Stix didn’t answer. “I have to ask you a favor,” he growled, his expression tense.

  Wilbur was baffled. “What?”

  “I’ve got to run an errand. Would you mind waiting in the diner? Go in and have a cup of coffee.”

  “A cup of coffee? Stix, I want to go home.”

  “Please, this is important,” Stix said. “I promise I’ll be right back.”

  “How long will it take us to get home from here?”

  “Don’t worry about it. Hurry up, Wilbur.”

  “I never in all my life,” Wilbur said, shaking his head. He opened the door and struggled to lift himself out of the seat. Still feeling lousy, he longed to be home, stretched out on his couch. Gingerly he stepped out onto the pavement and shut the door. Stix pulled out of the parking lot without a backward glance.

  The air was so still and quiet except for the sound of the crickets.

  Wilbur turned. He took one step, then collapsed onto the ground.

  71

  Here they are,” Regan said as Monique’s cousin’s car drove past. “You know, Jack, it’s been hours and Cleo still hasn’t returned my call. Who knows when Dizzy will show up? I have to at least try to get his wife to talk to me.”

  “Let’s do it,” Jack said. He turned the key in the engine and drove down the block. When they parked in front of the Cammarizzos’, the boys had already run inside the house. Monique and her cousin were unloading bags of groceries from the trunk.

  Monique’s cousin looked up as Regan and Jack got out of the car. “I told you Dizzy wasn’t here. What do you want now?”

  “I’m Dizzy’s wife. Why are you looking for him?” Monique asked suspiciously, her face flashing with anger.

  “We’re actually trying to track down Cleo Paradise,” Regan explained. “I’m a private investigator. Cleo’s pa
rents haven’t heard from her lately and are worried. She left the house she was renting here at the Shore last Friday. We were wondering if she’d been to her apartment in Los Angeles. Perhaps your husband could call people in the building to see if anyone’s seen her this week.”

  “Give me a break,” Monique said, shaking her head. “Dizzy’s on vacation. Why should he have to worry about Cleo’s disappearing act?”

  “I didn’t say anything about a disappearing act,” Regan said firmly. “Cleo’s parents are worried, and I’m trying to explore every avenue. You’re a mother, you must understand. Can you try and reach your husband for me?”

  “He doesn’t have his phone with him.”

  “Do you know where he is?”

  “No. We were at the beach and he left. I don’t know when he’ll be back.”

  “Monique, I told them he stranded you there, the jerk.”

  “Sheryl!” Monique snapped. “Keep your opinion about my husband to yourself.”

  “This has been some vacation,” Sheryl muttered.

  “Do you have the name of anyone in your building in Los Angeles that I could call and find out if they’ve seen Cleo this past week?” Regan asked.

  Monique shrugged.

  “I’ll say it again. Cleo’s parents are desperately worried. If one of your children went missing, no matter how old they might be, you’d feel—”

  “Okay!” Monique interrupted. “When we travel, Dizzy always brings a list of the people who live in the building and their numbers. You can make the calls. I don’t have time.”

  “That’s fine.”

  “But I don’t know whether I should be giving out this information to total strangers.”

  Jack pulled out his badge.

  “Oh,” Monique said quickly. “All right, then.”

  One of the boys, who’d been watching from the window, came running out the door. “Hey, mister, let me see your badge. Are you a real police officer?”

  “Yes, I am,” Jack said with a smile, crouching down.

  “I saw a bad guy once,” the boy reported, his eyes shining with excitement.

  “You did?” Jack asked.

  “Tommy, what are you talking about?” Monique demanded.

  “I was outside our building. The bad guy pulled up on a motorcycle and threw ugly flowers on this lady Cleo’s car. I thought that was mean.”

  “When did this happen?” Monique asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “You should have told Mommy and Daddy.”

  “But you said you didn’t want to hear one more word about Cleo Paradise. Not one more word.”

  Out of the mouths of babes, Regan thought.

  Monique groaned. “I’ll get the list. Come on, Tommy.”

  “But, Mommy!”

  “Hey, buddy,” Jack said kindly. “Do as your mother tells you.” He held out his hand. “But first give me five.”

  Tommy squealed with delight. He drew back his skinny little arm then slapped his hand as hard as he could into Jack’s palm.

  “Way to go,” Jack said, then patted Tommy’s head.

  Reluctantly Tommy followed his mother and their scowling cousin into the house. A minute later, Monique came back out with a sheet of paper. “Take this. Dizzy keeps extra copies.”

  “Thank you,” Regan said. “Would you mind giving me your number?”

  “My cell number is on there.”

  “Great,” Regan said, then handed Monique her card. “Please have your husband call me when he returns. As you can see from what your son just told us, Cleo could be in danger. Maybe Cleo mentioned something in passing to your husband that could help us.”

  “Okay,” Monique said.

  Regan and Jack got back in the car. “Well, at least we know Dizzy didn’t leave Cleo the flowers in Los Angeles,” Regan said as she put on her seat belt.

  “But who was the guy on the motorcycle?” Jack wondered aloud. “What do you want to do now, Regan?”

  “Why don’t we go back to Edna’s? I’ll start to make these calls. I’m sure Monique will have Dizzy call me when he gets back. If not, we’ll pay them another visit later.”

  As Jack drove, Regan made call after call. No one she reached had seen Cleo.

  “There’s been a restaurant menu stuck halfway under her front door for days now,” one of Cleo’s neighbors reported. “I don’t think she’s been here.”

  “Thanks so much,” Regan said, then hung up. “It’s pretty clear Cleo hasn’t been back to her apartment in Los Angeles.”

  “Daisy’s probably right,” Jack said. “Cleo most likely stayed somewhere not far from here.”

  Regan’s phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID. “I don’t know who this is,” she said, then answered.

  “Regan!” a woman shouted hysterically. “It’s Edna!”

  “Edna, what’s wrong?” Regan asked quickly, afraid something had happened to Nora.

  “They think Wilbur had a heart attack!” Edna sobbed. “He’s in the emergency room in some godforsaken town in western New Jersey. Thank God my number was the last one he’d called from his cell phone. The hospital just called. Can you and Jack drive me out there? Please! Your mother said Jack has a special siren he can put on the car so we can get there as fast as possible. There’s so much traffic …”

  “Of course, Edna,” Regan said. “We’re two minutes away.”

  “Thank you, Regan. Thank you!”

  Jack heard every word. He turned on the siren, stepped on the gas, and raced toward Edna’s house. Nora and Edna were waiting at the curb. They jumped in the backseat.

  “Hurry, Jack, please!” Edna wailed. “I’m so angry. Wilbur’s rotten friend Stix dropped him off at a diner in the middle of nowhere to go run an errand. He knew Wilbur wasn’t feeling well. God knows where Stix went! But I’ll tell you this—when I get my hands on him, I’ll wring his neck!”

  72

  After Judson finished mowing Old Man Appleton’s lawn, the gnarly grump emerged from his house. Hands on hips, he glanced around the yard. “Good job.”

  “Thanks,” Judson said, surprised at the compliment.

  “My wife and I are having company this weekend. She just said we should have had our patio furniture cleaned. How about if we negotiate a price for you to do the job for us?”

  “Sure thing, Mr. Appleton. I have a free window tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow’s too late. I need it done now. Our guests are arriving in the morning.”

  Judson was sweaty and tired and wanted to go home and have a beer. He decided he’d call Regan Reilly and tell her about the book Cleo Paradise had been reading. Old Man Appleton was difficult, but Judson didn’t want to lose him as a client. The beer and the phone call would have to wait. “Okay, then, I’ll do it now,” Judson said agreeably.

  Appleton cackled. “I thought you’d say yes. Let’s walk over to the garage.”

  “The garage?”

  “Yes. We’ve got half a dozen extra lounge chairs that need a good scrubbing. I want you to look at them before we decide on a price.”

  I’ll never get out of here, Judson thought.

  73

  Jack had programmed the address of the hospital into the GPS and noted, “It’s ninety-seven miles west.”

  “Ninety-seven miles!” Edna moaned.

  Nora held Edna’s hands in hers. “Everything will be okay,” she said. “Jack will get us there quickly.”

  “Oh, Nora,” Edna said woefully. “I suppose I should call Karen. She was taking a car service from the airport. I’m sure she’s landed by now.”

  “Edna, what’s her number?” Regan asked quickly, her phone in hand. “I’ll get her on the line for you.”

  After one ring, Karen picked up. “Hello.”

  “Karen?”

  “Yes.”

  “This is Nora Regan Reilly’s daughter, Regan. Your mother is—”

  “Oh, Regan,” Karen interrupted. “I can’t wait to meet you. I asked Nora to
scout out my mother’s garage sale today.”

  “I know—”

  “My brother, Frankie, just called me,” Karen continued excitedly. “His fiancée told him that the company who ran my mother’s sale is questionable, at best. They threw out her friend’s baseball cards. He had a garage sale today. Some of those baseball cards are worth a fortune. I just hope they didn’t pull anything on us—”

  “Karen, I’m not calling about the garage sale. We’re on the way to the hospital. Your mother’s boyfriend, Wilbur—”

  “My mother’s boyfriend?” Karen squealed. “I didn’t know she had a boyfriend!”

  “Yes, Wilbur was taken to a hospital with a possible heart attack,” Regan said, avoiding commentary on Edna’s love life. “My mother and I are bringing your mother there now.”

  “What hospital? Where?”

  Regan told her, then handed the phone to Edna.

  “Karen, I can’t breathe, never mind talk,” Edna said, crying. “Are you coming to the hospital?”

  “Yes. I’m in the car now. I’ll tell the driver.”

  “Thanks, honey. See you soon. ‘Bye.” Edna handed the phone back to Regan. “Regan, I’m sorry to interrupt your search for Cleo.”

  “It’s okay, Edna. We’ll get you to the hospital and take it from there.”

  Jack drove swiftly, his siren blaring as they headed for western New Jersey. The GPS instructed him to exit the main highway. They found themselves on a winding country road. The area became more and more rural. It was almost dark. They passed a sign for a log cabin camp—the only one in New Jersey.

  Daisy said Cleo liked to go camping with her parents, Regan remembered. I’ve heard there are a lot of camps out this way by the Delaware Water Gap. Could Cleo have come all the way out here? Regan wondered.

  When they reached the hospital, Jack pulled up in front of the emergency room entrance. “Go ahead in. I’ll park the car.”

  Edna sprinted through the automatic doors. “Wilbur Parks!” she yelled to the receptionist. “Where is he?”

  The receptionist frowned and turned to her computer screen. “I think they took him into surgery.”