Fear Familiar Bundle (176 page)

"That's right," Jennifer said. She almost spilled her port when Familiar leapt from the sofa and dashed to the dining room table. With one large black paw he smashed the saltshaker into the wall. The little china chicken splintered into a thousand pieces.

"Familiar!" Jennifer stood and simply stared. She'd never seen the cat misbehave in such a fashion.

James rose, as did Eugene and Judy.

"Oh, my God." Jennifer looked at Familiar. "The saltshaker."

"It wasn't expensive," Eugene said, trying to soothe her.

"No! Salt! Ninety-eight. James was right about the highway." Jennifer was talking at such a speed that she had to force herself to slow down. "Remember the old salt domes on Highway 98? They've been abandoned for years, but it would be the perfect place to hide children."

James pulled the car keys from his pocket. "Let's go."

"Shouldn't we notify the authorities?" Judy asked. She took one look at their faces. "Forget I said that. Bixley would bungle the entire operation. You're right, let's go. And I'm going if I have to hitchhike!"

T
HE HALF-MOON
shone through tall pines that ringed the edge of what had once been a working salt mine on the backside of nowhere in the Alabama piney woods. It was just shy of midnight, and James and Jennifer had begun to circle around the back of the entrance to the dark mine shaft. Eugene and a very unhappy Judy had agreed to stand watch and signal if anyone approached.

"Listen." James put his hand on Jennifer's shoulder and pulled her against him. The sinister call of an owl hooted through the night.

"Someone's here."

"Maybe we can catch the kidnapper red-handed and put an end to this once and for all," James said. "I've been worried that the children didn't see their abductor and might still believe Eugene was behind this."

"Shush." Jennifer ducked lower behind a leafy huckleberry bush as someone approached the mouth of the shaft. The person was small, slender, and carried a large stack of McDonald's bags.

"We've hit pay dirt," Jennifer said. "Now, let's nail the cretin."

With James behind her, they started slowly forward just as the figure disappeared into the cave. There was the sound of keys jiggling, rusty hinges complaining, and finally a loud burst of voices.

"They sound okay." James felt a heavy burden lift from his shoulders.

"They sound hungry and glad to see whoever that is." Jennifer was perplexed. The children's greeting wasn't one of hostages to a captor. It was more of children to a benefactor. Something was still screwy about the entire scene.

Moving as swiftly as possible across the opening to the shaft, they stopped at the heavy door. James inched it open and was surprised to hear animated chatter. The smell of hamburgers wafted on the air toward him.

"When are we going home?" Mimi Frost's voice sounded plaintive yet composed.

"Yeah, my mother's going to kill me," Tommy added.

"Soon, children. Very soon now. Eugene said the experiment is almost over." The voice was soft and motherly.

"I'm ready to go home now," Mimi insisted. "It wasn't fair of Eugene to take us without asking. Mama's going to be terribly upset." Mimi's voice filled with emotion. "And Daddy, too."

"Yes, it was wrong of Eugene to trick you like he did." Martha Whipple's voice was unmistakable. "I've left clues for your parents to find you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone I brought you food. Right?"

The children gave a chorus of agreement. "It's Eugene's fault. He started the experiment," Bobby said. "That was a nasty trick."

Jennifer put her hand on James. Her heart was beating a rapid tattoo, but her thoughts were clear. Of all of the people in Mobile, she'd never suspected Martha Whipple. The librarian. Eugene's old friend. Now she knew everything but why.

"On three, we'll rush in and I'll take Martha while you get the children out and safe." James tapped her shoulder. "One, two, three!"

Together they pushed opened the heavy old door that had sealed the shaft from curious children for decades. Jennifer saw the children, all sitting at a plastic table. Martha Whipple stood over them, a revolver tucked discreetly in one hand. It was the sight of the gun more than anything that put speed to her feet as she launched herself across the table. Her body knocked burgers, colas and children to the floor in one grand, dramatic sweep as James tackled the librarian and sent her sprawling.

The gun flew out of her hand and Familiar, waiting at the doorway, fielded it neatly, pushing it out of the reach of Martha Whipple and the children.

Twenty seconds later, Eugene and Judy burst into the room and hurried to help Jennifer comfort the children, who were too stunned to do anything except look at the ruination of their meal and the strange sight of Martha Whipple being held tightly by James.

For a brief moment Martha struggled, then gave up as she glared at Jennifer. "You stupid interfering witch. Ever since you came to town you've ruined my plans."

"Martha?" Eugene stepped toward her, then stopped at the venomous look she gave him.

"I hate you," she snarled. "Everything you write is wonderful. The children love you, and the critics rave over each stupid word. You had everything I ever wanted, but you couldn't even throw me a scrap."

"Martha, what are you talking about?" Eugene picked up several pages of manuscript that had scattered across the floor of the mine. Understanding dawned on his face.

Martha sneered. "That's right. My stories. Remember when I showed them to you?" She struggled, but James held her. "You said I was the perfect librarian, but that I was no writer. You said my stories were
interesting.
That word that means nothing." As she talked, she slowly sank back against James until he was supporting her. "You took away my dreams, my hopes." She started to cry.

"Martha, I said you needed to write more."

"You ruined everything!" Martha lunged toward the writer, foiled only by the strong grip James had on her.

Aware that the children were watching with the beginnings of genuine fear, Jennifer signaled to James to move Martha Whipple away from the children. "We're going home," she said, kneeling to their level.

"Eugene." Bobby Fornaro stepped forward and addressed the writer. "You're going to be in big trouble for kidnapping all of us. Are we going to be in your next book?"

"Without a doubt," Eugene said, gathering them into his arms.

"And I'm going to be the detective," Judy said. She looked at Eugene. "Right?"

"Right. Now, it's time to go home. I think some parents are going to be very happy to see you."

"Is my mother mad?" Amber Green came out from behind a chair. "She has a terrible temper."

"I think even Anna will be sufficiently relieved to see you not to be angry," Eugene said. "Now, we'll have to pack in the car like sardines, but we can manage."

"Miss Whipple has a van," Tommy offered. "She blindfolded us and told us all about the experiment for one of your books."

"But she wouldn't take us back home," Mimi said, her voice becoming choked again. "I was getting scared. And this place is boring, being locked inside all day and night."

"Well, we're going home now," Jennifer said as she ruffled Mimi's bangs. As they started toward the door, Familiar in the lead, Jennifer turned to Martha Whipple. The woman was obviously off her rocker, a woman consumed with petty jealousies and meanness. But there was one thing that didn't make any sense. "I can see why you hated Eugene, but why Crush Bonbon? He was Eugene's rival, his enemy. And you tried to implicate him in the kidnappings. Why?"

Martha Whipple's glasses had slipped down her nose and the blue eyes that gazed back at Jennifer were slightly crazed. "It was for my daughter. He asked Arlene to marry him, but I fixed that. He wanted my only child, and her daughter. But I told her he was running around behind her back. I put a stop to that marriage. But Arlene moved away from me, anyway." Her burst of anger faded and she slumped against James once again.

"Come along, children." Wanting to spare them any more trauma, Eugene led them out into the night. "Now, where is the van? Jennifer will drive us and Familiar, and we'll leave James to help Martha. She's unhappy right now, but things will get better soon. Remember in the story where Kevin is tempted by the Gypsy…?"

Jennifer watched as the children obediently followed him to the van. Whatever trauma they'd suffered was momentarily lost in the joy of one of Eugene's stories. They would be okay.

James's touch was as comforting and expected as the sweet kiss of the night, and Jennifer turned into his arms. Martha Whipple's arms had been bound with a length of jump rope and she was safely tucked into the car, waiting for James to drive her to the police station.

"Are you okay?" James whispered into her ear.

"I'm better than okay." She lifted her face and brushed a kiss across his lips. "Should I say 'my hero' now, or wait until later?"

"Even in moments of glory you are still sarcastic." His tone was slightly chastising.

"I can't afford to let you think you're as terrific as I think you are."

"No, we wouldn't want to say anything kind at all." He laughed as he pulled her hard against him. "But I can make you beg for mercy."

"You can make me beg for a lot of things, most of them a lot more pleasurable than mercy." She kissed him, her body yielding against him, her desire for him instant and hot. "Let's continue this discussion at my place as soon as we deliver Ms. Whipple and the children."

"That's
Mrs.
Whipple, and it will have to wait until I file this story." James sighed. "If I'm going to make you a star in print and save Eugene's reputation, I have to hurry to the paper and get to work."

"Slave over that hot keyboard, and then— " she kissed him again "— we'll lock the doors, bolt the windows and take the telephone off the hook."

"For about five days," he said, returning her kiss.

"Hey!" Jennifer looked down her leg into the golden eyes of Familiar. He popped her shin again with his sheathed claws.

"I think it's time to drive," James said, sighing. "That cat knows how to ruin a romantic moment."

"Until later." Jennifer blew him as kiss as she ran through the pines to catch up with Eugene and the children. Familiar was a streak of black at her side.

E
UGENE'S LATEST BOOK
has skyrocketed to the
New York Times
' bestseller list. Imagine that. Nothing like a little controversy to set things in motion in the book world. And believe me, this entire kidnapping episode has raised the roof around here.

To the credit of all the voters, Anna Green's behavior has led to a coalition against book burning, which has destroyed her political future. Chief Bixley is under scrutiny for his nocturnal investigations, and James has been promoted to the ace reporter slot.

The best news of all is that Jennifer has been permanently assigned to Mobile to look out for Eugene. They realize it's a full-time job down here, and she's the woman for it.

I think sharing the same geographic space, or at least the same coast, is vital to a new marriage. And along with a job promotion, Jennifer is sporting an engagement ring.

Poor Martha Whipple. She's undergoing extensive psychiatric evaluation. As a Trained Observer, I can diagnose her condition— driven completely mad by jealousy. Imagine, she had checked out all of those books on writing and put them on Crush Bonbon's library card. She wanted to write. She wanted the glory. And when Eugene had looked at some of her manuscripts and said they weren't polished enough to be published, she lost it! The irony is that she never even tried to rewrite them and send them in. She just plotted and schemed how to ruin Eugene.

Ah, humans. They see what they want and then they screw it all up by doing something stupid. But they are interesting. That is their redeeming quality. They're endlessly interesting. And some of them, like Miss Spitfire, are enough to make a cat's heart go pitter-pat.

Now I'm settled in with Eugene. AnnaLoulou and I have developed a friendship that puts no strain on my vows to Clotilde. And Eleanor's on her way to retrieve me— and hold a bridal shower for Jennifer. Then it's home to Washington for a few weeks. There's no telling what can happen in Washington. A cat with a love of adventure knows no bounds.

Copyright © 2007 Harlequin Books S.A.

The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:

Fear Familiar

Copyright © 1990 by Carolyn Haines

Too Familiar

Copyright © 1993 by Carolyn Haines

Thrice Familiar

Copyright © 1993 by Carolyn Haines

Shades of Familiar

Copyright © 1994 by Carolyn Haines

Familiar Remedy

Copyright © 1994 by Carolyn Haines

Familiar Tale

Copyright © 1995 by Carolyn Haines

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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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