Fear Familiar Bundle (168 page)

"You think maybe he'll give the children back?" Eugene asked. For the first time in a week there was a burning light in his blue eyes.

"It might work." Jennifer was trying to hold her enthusiasm down. But the idea seemed brilliant. If Eugene's logic was correct, and the attacks on the children were directed at him, then it might be that his retirement would push the kidnapper into releasing Mimi and Tommy. "It's worth a try." She stood, too excited to finish eating. "I'll have to call Maji and prepare her. If she reads this without warning, she'll probably have a heart attack. As long as she understands this is a hoax, she'll be fine."

Eugene smiled at her. "The truth is, darling, I can't write as long as I'm worried about those children. I've tried and tried. Everything I've done to
The Lizard King
since Tommy was taken is pure drivel. Worthless." He shrugged one shoulder as he looked out his back door. "So you see, it doesn't matter if I retire or not. I simply don't have what it takes to create until those children are safe and sound."

Jennifer tapped on the beveled glass door of the McNair residence and held her breath. James stood a discreet four steps behind her, there but not intrusively so. Footsteps echoed on the hardwood floor and then the door opened.

Zelda McNair gave Jennifer a warm smile before a look of perplexity touched her face. "Is something wrong with Mr. Legander?" she asked before Jennifer could say a word.

"This is going to be more difficult than I thought," Jennifer said as she cast a despairing look at James. "We may be crazy, Mrs. McNair, but we believe that either Charlie or Patti may be in danger."

She knew instantly that her words were too brash. Mrs. McNair's fair skin flushed with emotion. "How? They're in the backyard. They're— " She broke off as she turned from the door and started to run through the house.

Jennifer and James followed, knowing that it would do no good to try to calm her until she was certain her children were safe. Zelda stopped at the back door and looked out. Charlie and Patti were industriously setting up toy soldiers in what looked to be a battle zone. They never even bothered to glance up at the adults who watched them.

"I've kept them in the backyard ever since Mimi Frost disappeared," Zelda said, relief making her face go red, then white.

"We didn't mean to upset you, and we have no concrete proof." Jennifer realized how foolish she sounded. Only the slight pressure of James's hand on the small of her back gave her the courage to go on. "We have a hunch— "

"We have reason to believe that the kidnappings of the children are directed at Eugene Legander," James deftly overrode Jennifer's halting attempts to explain. "Jennifer and I have stumbled on what we think may be a clue. And we believe the next child scheduled to be kidnapped will be redheaded."

"How in the world did you ever come to that conclusion?" Mrs. McNair, now that she knew her children were safe, was curious, and a little dubious of her guests. "How could you know that, unless you know who's taken those children?" Her voice sharpened.

"We don't know the kidnapper," James assured her. "This is a guess. But if it's true, we wanted to warn you, and we're on the way to the Ralstons to warn them. I understand they have a girl— "

"Julie." Mrs. McNair nodded. "Strawberry blond. Lovely child. So unusual. She makes things from paper. Beautiful things." She looked out the back door again, making certain her children were safe. "This has been a nightmare for all of us parents. I don't know how Mrs. Frost is surviving. And now Mrs. Franklin." She clutched her hands together. "It's horrible, but I keep thinking that it could be my children, and I'm so glad that it was someone else's. That's unforgivable of me, I know, but I can't help it."

Jennifer put her hand on the woman's arm. "Not terrible, just very human. All of the mothers feel the same way, I'm sure. But just keep Charlie and Patti safe. In fact, if I had relatives I could visit, I think I might take a trip."

"They're both A students. It wouldn't hurt them to miss a few days of school, and I've been promising my sister that we'd come for a visit." She went to the sink and began to run dishwater. "I'll just clean up this kitchen, pack a few things, and we'll load up and go to Jackson."

James nodded at Jennifer, indicating they should leave. "Thanks for your time," Jennifer said. "We'd better check in with the Ralstons."

"Thank you for coming by." Mrs. McNair wiped her hands on a towel and walked with them to the door. "There's so much to do to get ready for a trip. But it would do us all a world of good. The children are sick of my watching them like a hawk, and I'm sick of the worry." She stood in the doorway. "I hope they catch whoever is doing this and make them pay a heavy price."

"Thanks."

James took Jennifer's elbow as they hurried down the drive. "She was pretty shaken, but I think getting out of town is an excellent idea. At first I thought she was going to call the cops, but thank goodness she didn't."

"What about the Ralstons?" Jennifer knew the risk James was taking. He needed to be at work, and he had no business being caught in the middle of her big, boiling pot of troubles.

"Let's do it, and then I have to get to the office."

"And I have a retirement announcement to write and a press conference to put together. I want Eugene to go out with some style, even if it is a fake retirement."

Bonnie Ralston reacted in much the same manner as Zelda McNair. She gathered her two children close and decided to leave town. The pressure had become too much, and she thanked James and Jennifer for their warning.

On the short drive to Jennifer's house, James reached across the seat and picked up her hand. It was cool, fragile-looking. He wrapped his fingers around it. "We'll get through this," he said, kissing the tips of her fingers as he drove. "I promise."

"I just hope it's before something terrible happens to Mimi and Tommy."

"If we've thwarted Crush's plans, we may have bought them more time." He shook his head. "It just doesn't make sense. Why would a radio personality on the brink of going into national syndication do such a crazy thing?"

"I've been thinking about that myself," Jennifer said. "Why does he hate Eugene so much? I can't seem to find an answer, but maybe I haven't asked Eugene in the right way." There was an edge of steel in her voice.

"I don't think you can threaten Eugene into telling you a single thing."

"Maybe not, but Familiar may be able to help me out."

James pulled the car to the curb and stopped. "I don't even want to hear a plan that involves you and that cat. The fur will fly, is all I can say."

"I'll call you and let you know when I schedule the press conference."

"Make it early afternoon," he said. "Better for my deadline." He grinned, and blew her a kiss as he drove away.

Two hours later Jennifer examined the printed copy of her release. It was brief, simple, to the point, stating that due to health reasons Eugene Legander was hanging up his pen. It stated that no future Legander books would be issued by Grand Street Press. Due to Eugene's illness, there would be no retirement party at this time. The writer was going into seclusion.

On the one hand, it made Eugene look as guilty as sin. On the other, it added an element of sympathy to his side— if the reader believed that his worry about the children had driven him to retire. That was what Jennifer was hoping without being able to state it clearly. The idea was to manipulate the public. Not always the easiest thing to do.

She tapped her pen against her coffee cup and read it again. She wanted it to be perfect before she faxed a copy to Maji— after she called and told her of the plan.

But first she'd have to call Eugene, to check it out with him. She continued to tap a staccato beat on the coffee cup with her pen as the phone rang and rang. Jennifer's forehead wrinkled in thought. Why didn't Eugene answer? Where could he have gone? It was a small, niggling worry, but one that she knew would bother her until she spoke with him. He was so adventurous— and unpredictable. And he was also very worried about his young friends.

Jennifer replaced the receiver and dialed J. P. Frost. It was time to tell him what she'd found. She didn't completely trust the man, but it was his daughter, and his telephone. And with a little bit of luck, Frost might be the perfect foil for a scheme she was hatching. One that not even James knew about yet.

E
UGENE'S HOUSE
is a pack rat's haven. I mean there's stuff here that probably belongs in King Tut's tomb! The most amazing assortment of odds and ends, art and tinsel, expensive and junky. It's heaven! There's something to tickle any cat's curiosity, not to mention those wonderful peacock feathers that he uses to make AnnaLoulou dance and leap. What a gazelle she is. I do believe that I could abandon my heart to her if it were not already given to another.

Speaking of Clotilde, that brings to mind the Washington scene and the trials and tribulations of The Dame. Eugene got a call from her this morning with good news. Peter is out of jail and he has videotape on the atrocities of one of those canned hunts that should put several of those butchers in jail for a long time. Eugene was near tears as he spoke to Eleanor, so it must be some pretty gruesome stuff. I'm glad I didn't have to hear it. I just want to be in Texas so I can show those fake big game murderers what a small fifteen-pound feline with full claws and teeth can do.

Enough of that! My blood pressure is at the boiling point and I have my own set of troubles here in Mobile.

I've been looking at Eugene's manuscript, and the more I look at it, the more certain I am that the numeral 98 is sig nificant. I'm certain Jennifer figured out the redheaded child angle, so that's one clue that was left and used. This is one smart kidnapper, and one that likes to play with us. It's almost as if he were deliberately tweaking our noses with the clues. He's telling us every step he's going to take before he takes it.

In Crush's house there were stuffed dolls and toys, and a computer. And in the backyard, an impressive swing set. It has occurred to me that perhaps Crush is not establishing a kingdom for a child, but a place to imagine things like a child— i.e., a writer of children's stories. That would give him a reason to hate Eugene. It's only a theory, but it seems to work better than the one where he hates the books that Eugene writes. Even a human has more sense than that— what's to hate about wonderful stories? Even someone with the literary IQ of a Bonbon should be able to appreciate a well told tale. But I forget, you can't really generalize about such an undeveloped species.

For certain, though, Crush is not stupid. Not by a long shot. He's annoying and malicious and conniving, but he isn't dumb.

So if he wants to write children's books, maybe he views Uncle Eugene as too much competition. If the great Uncle Eugene were to step down as an author, it would leave a void that Crush would be only too glad to fill. It's a hypothesis, but one that has some substance.

Well, I need to get back inside the Bonbon house to see if there are some diaries, or some records of how to get that computer up and running. I don't think Miss Spitfire has any computer talent, and I know Eugene can't even use an electric typewriter. So maybe James?

Or even better— Mademoiselle Luno. Now she's the kind of kid who could turn a computer inside out. And I don't think she'd object to an evening of scampering around the Bonbon estate. No, I think that would be right up her alley.

First a snack, then a nap, and then some very serious catastrophic breaking and entering!

S
UNLIGHT WARMED
the lavender azaleas around Eugene's house to a vibrant glow as Jennifer pulled up and stopped at the front of his house. She'd called him seven times in the last hour— to no avail. If he was home, he was dodging the telephone.

She used her key to open the front door, and the silence of the house told her that she was alone with the cats.

Outside she heard a cheery whistle and went back to the porch. Eugene was coming down the sidewalk, two large bags clutched in his arms and a forced smile on his face.

"Welcome, darling. What are you doing in my neck of the woods?"

She gave him a critical inspection, noting the haggard look and the fake cheerfulness. "Checking on you. I have your retirement announcement. Want to take a look at it?"

"Excellent. Let me put these things away." He went into the kitchen. "I had the most delightful chat with little Bobby Fornaro in the parking lot at the grocery store. That child is a whirlwind of mischief."

Jennifer couldn't immediately place the youngster. There were at least fifty kids that Eugene knew well.

"His mother was buying groceries and left him in the car to play with one of those hideous video game things. She had warned him against talking to strangers, and what was Bobby doing but sneaking out of the car and using the tip of an umbrella to tickle women on their rumps when they bent over to put their groceries in the trunk." Eugene laughed. "That youngster is going to end up in prison."

"If some woman doesn't kill him before he has a chance to make it to puberty." Jennifer had a memory flash of the child. He was a devil, but he was also pretty funny. No matter what trouble he got into, he often got out of it unscathed because he could make people laugh. "He may be a comedian."

"Well, I caught him good and proper and put him back in the car before he gave poor old Mrs. Edison a heart attack. She thought something was in her pants." Eugene started laughing and stopped with a can of soup in his hand. "It
was
funny. Every time she bent over to try to straighten the groceries in the trunk, Bobby would lean out from behind the tail of the car and goose her with the umbrella."

Jennifer laughed, too. "Well, I hope you made him apologize."

"Of course, and she forgave him and gave him a cookie."