Missing in Jinx Cove

by Savannah Mae

  Since we’d already started the dialog, I figured it was my time to tell her what I thought about her bitterness toward my father. “We’d be a whole lot happier if you two would admit you still love each other. I don’t know why you forced us to live with the constant drama. We didn’t ask for it. I thought we were happy when you were together.”

  She scowled at me. “You thought I should’ve stayed with a man who cheated on me?”

  I’d forgotten about that. I shrugged. “No, but if you erase that problem, deep down, Dad is a good guy.”

  Juliana sat straight up. “Why did you say that?”

  I shrugged. “It’s true, isn’t it? Daddy is fun. He makes us laugh. He’s not afraid to try new things. He’s a cinematic genius. He knows all the best people. Who cares about the situation with what’s her name? That’s old news.”

  My mother snorted, “Yeah, who cares. It’s only your mother’s heart that got torn to shreds. Who cares if she was humiliated and her whole world fell apart? She’s no one. Just a sad old actress with no real feelings except for those dictated on a script.”

  Juliana played an invisible violin in slow motion. “Oh, poor you. You’ve only won two Oscars, starred opposite the most handsome men in the world, made a gazillion dollars, and have legions of fans who want a piece of you. You’re right. Your life is miserable. I don’t know how you’ve made it this far. You should hang up your acting shoes and check yourself into a nursing home to enjoy what’s left of your sad, sad life.”

  Her shoulders straightened.

  I held my breath, sure her response wouldn’t be pleasant.

  She took a deep breath.

  Juliana and I exchanged panicked glances.

  She stood and smoothed her hand over her blouse. “Thank you for your input. You have no idea how much I appreciate knowing my daughters prefer their wretched, good for nothing, philandering father over me. I feel so loved. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll take my tired, elderly carcass home, so you can solve your own problems. Good luck.” She marched out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

  Juliana waited until she was far enough away before she spoke, “See what you did. I told you to leave it alone. What’s wrong with letting her think he did this? If it makes her feel better, so what? While she concentrates on him, we can concentrate on finding the real kidnapper and get ourselves out of here. Mom brought a car. Why don’t we pack up our gear and call it good? We can research from home – where it’s safe.”

  I leaned forward, my voice hushed. “What if we did what she asked us to do?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What if we went along with her theory and searched for the kidnappers here first, then go home after that?” I asked.

  “Explain it to me. I don’t follow.”

  I rushed to the door to peek out into the hallway. “I have an idea. I’ll tell you, but you have to promise me you’ll go along with it without an argument.”

  Her lip quivered. “I promise, but—”

  “But nothing. If you can’t promise, I’ll do it on my own,” I said.

  She hesitated.

  “Okay, fine. We’ll ask the Jinx sisters if they want to join forces. Five witches are better than two.”

  She chuckled. “Yeah, they are, aren’t they?”

  “For everyone’s sake, I hope I’m right about this.”

  Chapter 17: The Jinx Sisters

  “I told you those girls weren’t what they seemed,” Calypso said. “You never listen to me. My whole life, I’ve tried to warn you about things and you never listened. You said I was dramatic or had a bad attitude. See what taking a few minutes to heed my warnings will get you?”

  Calliope nodded. “I always listen to you. It’s just half the stuff you say ….”

  “Go on. I dare you to insult your twin,” Calypso challenged her. “See how far you can get before I make you eat your words.”

  “Stop. We’re not kids anymore. We can’t chase each other around the room. One of us will end up with a broken hip by the time we’re done.” She shook her head. “Do you want to know why no one ever listens to you?”

  Calliope pleaded with her not to continue her thought.

  “No. She asked, so let’s tell her. I don’t want to waste another seventy years on this. She should know the truth,” Lyra said.

  “Which is?” Calypso pressed. “I can’t wait to hear this.”

  Lyra pursed her lips as if it pained her to have this discussion.

  “Tell me.”

  Calliope groaned, “Don’t do it. Why can’t we let her go on believing she can?”

  “Can what?” Calypso raised her voice.

  Consuelo ran down the stairs. She stopped when she saw the sisters. “Sorry. I … I …” She sighed. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. Can you point me in the direction of the kitchen? I need coffee.”

  Calliope’s eyes lit up. “Coffee? It just so happens that’s our specialty. Follow me. I could use a cup too.”

  Lyra and Calypso exchanged glances.

  “Chicken,” Calypso teased.

  Calliope shot a glare at her. “No. I’m courteous. We have guests.”

  Consuelo paused in the doorway. “About that, I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for my girls. I know how busy your lives must be. I promise we’ll be out of your hair in the morning.”

  “Great performance, but there’s no prize at the end of this,” Calypso said. “This is serious. Those girls – now, I don’t have anything against them – but they got us into a mess. They should apologize to me for what they did to my life. The only reason they’re here is because my sisters don’t know how to say no. But the truth is I don’t trust either one of your daughters. No offense to you. I like you. I think we get along well, but there’s something about them that bothers me.”

  Lyra interrupted her before she went too far, “No, there isn’t. We all know what your problem with them is. It’s obvious, don’t you think?”

  Calypso narrowed her eyes at her. “What’s so obvious, oh, great bearer of knowledge?”

  Calliope groaned, “Stop. Your issue is they remind you of us when we were young. Why can’t you admit it?” She looked at Lyra. “We used to be young and beautiful and so naïve. Well, things change. People get older. You can’t hold their youth against them. Eventually, they’ll get older too.”

  Juliana and Bea stood at the top of the stairs.

  “I’m not afraid of getting old. I know good plastic surgeons in Beverly Hills. If anything did happen, all I’d have to do is make a call, and poof, the problem would be solved,” Juliana said.

  Consuelo closed her eyes.

  “I know that look,” Calypso said. “I say go with it. It might not get you the result you want, but it will sure feel good in the moment.”

  Lyra nudged her. “Don’t encourage violence.”

  “Who said I’m encouraging violence? Consider it a warning shot. Those girls should have told us who they were to begin with,” Calypso said.

  “You mean before or after they were kidnapped and thrown into the trunk of your car?” Consuelo challenged her. “As an outsider looking in, the only person who seems suspicious around here is you. Those girls, as you like to call them, are victims. They had no plans of being trapped in a wild conspiracy theory. They were on vacation. And let me tell you, convincing them to vacation together should earn me an award. It wasn’t easy. I had to manipulate, threaten, whine, and employ tactics I haven’t used in decades to pull it off.” She took a seat on the sofa. “Can we please focus on the real issue?”

  Lyra sat in a chair opposite her. “Yes, please. That’s what’s important.”

  “Fine, have it your way, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still have my doubts about how it is they ended up in my car,” Calypso said.

  “I don’t know how, but I think I know why,” Consuelo said.

  The sisters exchanged concerned glances.

  She continued, “Remember the is
sues I had with my ex?”

  Calliope giggled. “Yeah, you turned him into a bullfrog once or twice if I remember correctly. Anyway, we already heard your theory. I thought we agreed to convince your ex and his wife to pay us a visit?”

  Consuelo laughed. “We did but there’s more you should know about him.” She took a deep breath. “Remember the story I told you at the convention last year?”

  The sisters shook their heads.

  She waved her hand. “It’s okay. I don’t mind telling you again. As you know, he decided to have another family. Can you believe that? Like he doesn’t have enough children as it is. I don’t know who in their right mind would want to do that all over again. I mean, I love my girls to death, but raising a whole other family from scratch? Never. I don’t care how much you paid me, I wouldn’t do it.”

  Calypso tried to rein her back in. “A lot of people remarry and start new families, what’s the big deal?”

  She glanced at the front door. “The big deal is my daughters. His new wife, Amanda, doesn’t care for them. Sure, she pretends she does. Mostly because they’re practically the same age, but I know better than to believe that. I’ve seen it a thousand times where we come from. You play along to get along. With the girls getting older and their lives changing, I know he’s begun to realize how much he missed because he chose to shack up with a plastic teenager.” She paused to take a deep breath. “I think this was his ill-fated attempt to make them need him. I can’t prove it, but my gut tells me I’m right.”

  Calypso had heard crazier theories before. She nodded. “What does that have to do with the new wife?”

  She swallowed a lump in her throat and waited for a beat. “My ex loves drama and intrigue. He built a career on it. I think he wanted to do something big and come in and be the hero. I think Amanda must’ve caught wind of it and sabotaged it. She upped the ante and turned it into a kidnapping. The only thing is she doesn’t know my daughters as well as she thinks she does. They outsmarted her and freed themselves.”

  “Is this your best guess or do you have proof? I’m all for getting revenge, but trust me, you don’t want to be on the wrong end of an accusation. Are you sure?” Calypso asked.

  She nodded. “The last time I saw him, I wanted to do something big, but not so big it’d cause him any real harm. I came up with a brilliant idea. I found a spell that would make him fall asleep like a rock every time she opened her mouth. It worked. At least, I heard it worked wonders. Some of our former assistants told me it became a huge problem for them. Of course, I never told them I’d done it. She showed up at my door to show off an elaborate gift he gave her, and it made me angry. All I could think is why did she always feel the need to rub their relationship in my face? It was then I decided I’d make sure every move she made would end in disaster.” She chuckled. “It was dumb, I know. Honestly, I didn’t think anything would come of it … until I’d heard strange things happened to anyone who came near her. The girls won’t admit it, but I bet one of them contacted her about this trip and the rest is history.”

  Chapter 18: The Abney Family

  “What are we doing?” Melanie whispered.

  Ben signaled for her to lower her voice. “Give her a few minutes.”

  “To do what?” She couldn’t pull her eyes off her as she fluttered around the kitchen. “Should I ask if she needs help?”

  He shook his head. “I wouldn’t.”

  Penelope paced from one side of the room to the other with a large rolling pin in her hand. She stopped suddenly, pointing the would-be weapon at Melanie. “You’re related to them. What do you know about the car?”

  Melanie gulped. “Calypso’s car?”

  “Yes, which car do you think I’m asking about?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. You’ve kind of jumped from topic to topic since this conversation started.”

  Penelope held the rolling pin steady as she pointed it again. “No, I haven’t. This is the same topic. My son – the boy I held in my arms and rocked to sleep every night for the first three years of his life – couldn’t be bothered to tell me about his sudden fascination with Hollywood until this morning. He got the idea from somewhere. You and your family are big on drama. I want confirmation this wasn’t an elaborate scheme to go viral or whatever it is young people do online these days. Ever since the Jinx sisters opened the nightclub, they’ve clamored for attention. Is this their misguided attempt to get it? I saw Calypso with a sign on the highway, inviting weary travelers to stop and have a drink with her. How desperate do you have to be to stand on an empty highway and beg strangers to stop by your business? Who does that?” She placed the rolling pin on the kitchen table and said, “Benjamin, my sweet boy, if that’s what this is, you can tell me. I won’t be mad. Did a stunt go bad? We can fix that. You don’t owe Calypso or her sisters anything. We can make her confess to whatever it is she did. She knows you didn’t kidnap anyone. They could be actresses. People will do anything for money these days.”

  Melanie cocked her head to the side. “You think the kidnapping and Ben’s plans to leave are part of a marketing hoax?”

  Ben shook his head.

  “I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not thrilled with the idea of a reality show, but if it’s what he wants, why not let him give it a shot?” Melanie asked. “Why turn it into a conspiracy theory?”

  “He could get framed for kidnapping.”

  Ben interjected, “I’m confused. First, you said it was a publicity stunt, now you think it was real and I was framed? Which is it?”

  She shook her head. “I have no idea. I’m thinking aloud. That’s more than either of you have done. Explain to me how this happened. How did they get in the trunk of her car?”

  Ben shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t put them there. I didn’t steal her car. The reality show audition was my idea. I thought it’d be a good way to earn a quick buck. While we’re on the subject, in a strange twist of fate, I might have a chance.”

  Melanie closed her eyes and prepared for a new argument to begin.

  “How’s that?” Penelope asked.

  He scratched his cheek. “Juliana and Beatrice—”

  “Bea,” Melanie corrected him.

  He nodded. “Yeah, I mean, Bea. It turns out their father is the show’s creator.”

  Penelope dead-panned, “And you think the father of the kidnapped girls wants to hire the guy who is accused of the crime to be on his new reality show?” She laughed. “Makes perfect sense to me. Why don’t you dump Melanie and propose to one of them and we can be one big, happy family?”

  “Dump me?” Melanie asked. “We’re not together.”

  “Yeah, right. Keep telling yourself that. You’ll catch on. I just hope it won’t be too late. I’d like grandchildren someday. That is, unless Mr. Hollywood decides he’d like to spend eternity globe-trotting and decides to forgo a normal family life.”

  He smirked.

  Melanie cleared her throat to snap him back to reality.

  “I don’t know what to argue about first. I don’t want to propose to anyone. Mel and I are only friends. How many times do I have to tell you that? And, as far as the show goes, I didn’t do anything wrong, so there’d be no reason to hold the kidnapping against me. I’m an innocent man,” he protested.

  “Let’s forget that for a moment. I think we might have bigger problems on our hands.”

  “Like the fact there’s a kidnapper out there?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “Who found the girls?”

  Melanie gulped. “Anthony.”

  “Right. So, where is he? Did he say how he happened upon them?” she asked.

  “He was on the highway behind them. He saw Juliana’s hand. He stopped the car, the guys took off, and he rescued the girls,” Melanie explained.

  Penelope held up her hand. “But why? Why was he on the road? We haven’t seen him in forever. Did he have business here?”’

  “His family lives here.”


  She slumped back in her seat. “Oh, yeah, I forgot about them. Anyway, where’s he been? I bet he can describe the guys.”

  “He can’t. He never saw their faces,” she explained.

  “Then where did the description come from?” she asked.

  Ben eyes lit up. “It was on T.V. That reporter, Tawny what’s her name showed the composite drawing on the news. You’re right. How did they get a description of someone they never saw? I can’t possibly look like one of the guys if no one knows who they are.”

  Penelope pursed her lips.

  “Something strange is going on,” Melanie mused. “We have to find out where the description came from.”

  Penelope asked, “Do you think Anthony saw one of them or made it up to hurt Ben?”

  Melanie shook her head. “No, I think he got it right.”

  “Wait. What?” Ben asked. “How’s that possible?”

  She leaned back, speaking so quietly her words were hard to make out, “He is a bad guy. How could I have been so blind. He hates you so much, he’d pin a crime on you. What’s wrong with him?”

  “Look, it’s no secret he can be a bit of a con artist. Remember what he did to you? How much do you want to bet he has no idea what the kidnapper looks like? I bet he panicked and threw out any description,” Penelope said.

  “He’s a cop. Why would he lie?” Melanie didn’t like to defend him in this instance. Something was off. Either he deliberately misled investigators or he intentionally set out to frame Ben.

  Penelope rolled her eyes. “Think about it. He used to be in love with you, then, he decided one woman wasn’t enough. Obviously, he made a grave mistake. Karma caught up with him, and by then, you’d moved on. That’s reason enough for someone as pathetic as he is to want to make Ben look bad. He’s jealous.”

  “Why? Ben and I aren’t a couple.” Melanie couldn’t wrap her mind around it.

  “Who do you spend all your time with these days?” Penelope pointed to Ben. “Him! I think Anthony should be commended for rescuing those girls, but at the same time, in his grand attempt to make himself out to be a big hero, his subconscious – all the anger he’s held in his heart since your breakup – made him describe my poor boy.”