Elizabeth's San Antonio Sleuthing (8 page)

Joe spoke up then. “A blog? What kind of blog? And you have a business card? How old are you, anyway?”

Kate adjusted her glasses then addressed the group. “I know this may come as a surprise to you, but Elizabeth and I are detectives.”

The group burst into laughter, including Elizabeth. Kate sounded so serious.

“Laugh if you want to, but it's the truth. And I have a blog you can access online. I discuss different mysteries and ways to solve them.”

“Whoa,” said Pedro. “We don't know anything about the Internet.”

“Yes, we do!” said Maria. “Remember, we had to take that class in school?”

“Oh yeah. A lot of the kids at school have computers at home, but none of us do. So we're pretty clueless when it comes to that type of stuff,” said Joe.

“A lot of people don't have computers at home. But I'm sure your library has a computer you can use for free,” Elizabeth said.

Joe smiled at her again, and she looked away.

Stop looking at him. Look at Maria when you talk, Elizabeth told herself
.

“And if I went to the library, who would teach me how to use the computer?” he asked.

“The librarian,” said Kate. “By the way, can somebody please tell me where we are?”

“We're in a secret passageway. I thought you detectives would know all about that,” Joe teased.

“Well, you obviously knew it was here. I'm hoping you also know where it leads!” Kate retorted.

“Follow me,” Maria chimed in. She began walking down the long hallway, and the others followed her. They turned to the right, and then pushed open some swinging doors that led into a kitchen. Immediately, people called out greetings in Spanish. Elizabeth recognized the logo on the red aprons.

This is the kitchen of Rio Rio!

One woman began speaking in rapid-fire Spanish to Joe. She was standing over a dish of the most delicious-looking tamales Elizabeth had ever seen.

Those tamales! Those are the tamales I love so much!

Joe turned to Elizabeth and Kate. “I'd like you to meet my mama, Elena Garcia. Mama, this is Kate,” he gestured, and the woman smiled.

“And
this,”
he said with emphasis, “is
Elizabeth.”

The woman lifted her eyebrows at her son, then smiled at Elizabeth, who could feel herself turning every shade of red.
Why did he say it like that?

“It's very nice to meet both of you,” the woman said. Then, she looked at Elizabeth. “Don't you let Jose give you a hard time. He is…how you say? … All bark and no bite.”

Now it was Joe's turn to blush, and the group laughed.

Biscuit chose that moment to bark, and several people in the kitchen turned to look at the little dog. Joe's mother began speaking in rapid Spanish once again, finishing with, “
Andale! Andale!”

Elizabeth knew she was telling them to hurry and get out. Dogs weren't allowed in restaurant kitchens.

Kate scooped Biscuit into her arms and said, “We need to be going. Thanks for everything,” and looked for an exit sign.

“It was very nice to meet you, Mrs. Garcia,” Elizabeth told the woman, and followed Kate through a door.

Once inside the door, they realized they were in a supply closet.

“Well, this is a little embarrassing,” said Kate, turning to go back through the door.

As the girls re-entered the kitchen, the staff clapped and laughed. Joe stepped forward and said, “Allow me to accompany you,” in a gallant tone.

Red-faced, the two girls followed their guide through another door, down a short hallway, and finally stepped into the sunlight of the Riverwalk.

“Thanks, Joe. We'll…see ya around,” Kate told him, and began moving toward the hotel.

“Yeah, thanks,” called Elizabeth with a slight wave. Joe watched them until they were out of sight.

An hour later, the girls lay across their beds in the hotel room talking on their cell phones and munching on French fries. Kate had set her phone for a conference call, and amazingly, had gotten in touch with each of the other Camp Club Girls.

“Okay,” said Sydney. “Let me get this straight. Elizabeth got hit by a water balloon while riding in a River City Cruise boat, and another lady found a rubber snake at her feet while riding a Santa Anna boat. River City keeps having mechanical problems, but you don't think the mechanical problems are related to the pranks.”

“We did to begin with,” said Kate. “But we're pretty sure we know who the pranksters are, and they seem pretty harmless. I told you about the two men who chased us. And the tall, skinny guy had pink hands—the color one of the River City boats was painted. I think those men are responsible for the vandalism. At least, Elizabeth
hopes
it's those men.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” asked Elizabeth.

“You know exactly what it means,” said Kate in a teasing voice. “Elizabeth is swooning over one of the pranksters.”

“I am not!” said Elizabeth, and the other girls began asking questions, all at once.

“Tell us more, Kate! Who is this guy? What is his name?” they asked.

Elizabeth pulled the pillow over her head, but continued listening to the conversation.

“His name is José Garcia,” Kate said with a dramatic accent.

“Ooh! Is he from Mexico? I could be related to him!” said Alex. “If you marry him, Elizabeth, we could end up being cousins!”

“Y'all, stop it! I'm not marrying anybody. Kate is just making stuff up,” Elizabeth defended herself, throwing a pillow at her roommate. “And he likes to be called Joe.”

“Hmmmmm…Elizabeth Garcia,” teased Bailey. “It has a ring to it.”

The other girls laughed, until finally McKenzie said, “You guys, leave Elizabeth alone.”

“Thank you, Mac,” said Elizabeth.

“I'm sure she'll invite us all to the wedding, when the time comes,” McKenzie continued.

“Mac!”
Elizabeth yelled into the phone, and everyone laughed again.

“All right, already,” Kate said. “Sorry I brought it up, Elizabeth. I just couldn't resist. Now, can we please get back to the matter at hand? What should be our next step in solving this mystery?”

“Tell us more about the two men,” Sydney said.

“Well, the captain is shorter, bald, pudgy…and he wears a captain's hat,” Elizabeth responded.

“Like the hat the captain wore on
Gilligan's Island
?” Alex asked.

“Oh, I've seen that show! That's an old one. And yes, the hat is exactly like that,” Elizabeth said. “And the other guy is tall and skinny, and seems to take orders from the captain.”

“It sounds to me like you need to focus your investigation on Gilligan and the Skipper,” said Bailey. Once again, she had come up with the perfect nicknames for their suspects.

Alex spoke up again. “Kate, you took your bag of gadgets along, didn't you?”

“Do you even have to ask?” Kate responded.

“Did you bring along one of those little listening thing-a-ma-jiggers?” Alex continued.

“You mean a bug?” Kate asked.

“Yeah,” Alex laughed. “A bug. But ‘thing-a-ma-jigger' is so much more fun to say.”

Everyone laughed, and Bailey spoke up. “How far away can you be, and still hear a conversation through the bug?”

“That shouldn't be a problem,” said Kate. “There are plenty of hiding places.”

“But where will you plant the bug?” asked McKenzie. “Those men sound scary. I don't want you to do anything dangerous.”

“We'll be careful,” Elizabeth assured her. “There are several boarding areas for the boats, and they're often left unmanned when the boat is on a tour. We can probably put a bug on the fence railing at one of those areas.”

“Yeah, and then we can hang out at one of the nearby restaurants eating chips and salsa until something happens,” Kate said.

The other girls laughed. “Always thinking about food,” said Sydney.

“Hey, if we're going to sit and wait, we might as well do something constructive,” Kate retorted.

The girls laughed, and Elizabeth spoke up again. “Our biggest problem is that the two men know who we are. Kate dropped a business card, and one of them picked it up. Now they know we're sleuths.”

Alex said, “Hey, maybe you could use that to your advantage. They know you are just kids, and they probably won't expect much of you. I remember an episode of
Hawaii Five-O
where McGarrett went undercover as a convict, and made it look like the police were after him. Maybe you can pretend to focus in on someone else as the guilty party, and the men will leave you alone.”

“Hey, that might work,” said Kate. “We could ask Joe to be our undercover guy, and act guilty….”

Alex laughed. “Joe, huh? Well, that would be appropriate.”

“What do you mean?” asked Elizabeth.

“The episode I'm thinking of was titled, ‘The Ways of Love.' “

Everyone laughed, and Elizabeth said, “I'm never speaking to any of you again. For five whole minutes, anyway. Good-bye.” She clicked her phone shut and pulled the pillow over her head again. The other girls recognized the teasing in Elizabeth's voice and laughed.

Kate finally hung up. “Hey, you're not really mad, are you?” she asked.

“No,” Elizabeth said. “But I'm not googly-eyed, and I didn't swoon.”

Kate ignored her friend's last comment, and instead opened up her laptop. “Now, to update my blog,” she said.

Elizabeth watched her log into her stats page. Sure enough, comments waited. Clicking on the first of two, she read,
“Back off. You're in over your head!”

The next read, “You leave us alone, and we'll leave your little dog alone.”

The two girls stared at the screen.

“Elizabeth, those guys are serious. They threatened Biscuit! What are we going to do?”

Elizabeth stared at the screen, forming a silent prayer. Water balloons and rubber snakes were one thing. Threatening Biscuit was an entirely different matter.
What should we do, Lord?

A Bible verse popped into her head, one of the first verses she had learned as a small child. She had actually learned it as a song. Elizabeth took a deep breath and began singing the words to Psalm 56:3. “When I am afraid, I will trust in You, I will trust in You, I will trust in You. When I am afraid I will trust in You, when I am afraid.”

Kate leaned back on the bed and looked at the ceiling. “I know we're supposed to trust God in all things. But I also think we're supposed to use wisdom. I don't want to do anything to put Biscuit in danger and just assume God will rescue him.”

Elizabeth reread the words on the screen. After a moment, she said, “You're right. We need to be careful, and use wisdom. But we won't let those men ruin our good time. We'll just be extra careful, keep Biscuit close, and trust God to show us what to do.”

“Do you think we should let an adult know what's going on?” Kate asked.

Elizabeth leaned back on her elbows. “Probably. And I think I know exactly who to tell….”

Later that evening, Elizabeth and Kate leaned on the counter in the hotel lobby, waiting for Uncle Dan to finish with a customer. He handed the woman a key and said, “Enjoy your stay.”

As soon as the woman was out of earshot, he wheeled his chair back to the girls, and said, “Okay, I'm all ears. Tell me again how you got mixed up in all of this.”

Elizabeth and Kate took turns filling him in on the details. “At first, I thought Joe and his friends were probably behind the problems with the boats, but I don't think that anymore,” Elizabeth told her uncle.

Uncle Dan looked out the glass doors toward the Riverwalk. A Santa Anna boat was puttering by. “Ever since Santa Anna Tours opened for business, River City Cruises has had problems. They've been in business here for decades, and have a spotless record for safety and customer satisfaction. I've wondered about Santa Anna all along.”