Double dose, p.14
Double Dose, page 14
DeDario threw an empty beer can at Sherman’s head. “I can have you arrested for this.”
“Yeah, right!” Roberta called to him.
“Well, Dayton?” Derek insisted.
“It’s nothing, little brother,” Dayton said. “Don’t give it a second thought.”
“Don’t patronize me,” Derek said fiercely. “When I get to the bottom of this, I better not find out you’ve put my family in danger in any way. Or I’ll make sure you spend the rest of your life in jail.”
“Who else is coming?” Mollie called.
Jackie looked at Rahel with tears in her eyes. “Thanks for nothing, Rahel,” she said. Then she jumped into the speedboat.
“What about my boat?” DeDario shouted.
Moeller came up to Mollie. “You had better return that hair right now, or you will be sorry.”
Johnny picked up Moeller by his coat collar and held him out over the water. “Do you swim as well as you make threats?”
Mollie scrambled into the boat. “It’ll be okay,” she told Jackie, who was still crying.
Derek Hughes looked at Rahel and shook his head. “I’m disgusted with you—and you, too, Dayton.” He got into the boat beside Mollie.
“Are you coming?” Sherman called to Johnny.
“Yeah, I just want to get rid of some excess baggage first. Have a nice swim.” Johnny dropped Moeller into the water and hopped into the Daredevil. “Full speed ahead,” he yelled.
CHAPTER 22
“It’s probably not quite as exciting as the places you usually go on Saturday night,” Mollie told Hilary as they walked in the door to Dino’s and sat down at a large round table. “But it’s the best we can do in Bayside.”
“Okay, Fox, I have a lot of questions,” Sherman said. “So you’d better start talking.”
“Yeah, I didn’t understand half of what was going on yesterday,” Jaime said. “When you cut Rahel’s hair, I thought she was going to kill you.”
“She can get a wig,” Hilary said.
“Seriously, though. How did you know it was her hair in the evidence room?” Sherman asked.
“The first thing they did to me in New York, before taking my picture, was trim my hair,” Mollie explained. “When I looked at the proofs of Meredith and Hilary from the shoot, I could tell her hair had been trimmed, too. But when I looked at the hair they had in the evidence room, it had split ends. So I knew it couldn’t have come from Meredith’s head.”
“Besides the fact that they never asked me for any hair sample,” Meredith said.
The waiter brought out a large tray, covered with plates. “We ordered seven cheeseburgers and seven extra-large fries,” Sherman said. “And an assortment of drinks—choose your own.” The waiter handed everything around the table.
“Are you paying for all this, too?” Johnny asked Sherman. He took a big bite of his burger.
“Be quiet and let Mollie explain,” Jaime said.
“Well, when Roberta and I came to your house that time, we saw Rahel out back and thought she was you, because of her hair,” Mollie said. “She’s the first person who came to mind, who could have supplied similar-looking hair.”
“On top of that, Hilary told us in New York that Rahel’s career started sliding three years ago when she got heavily into cocaine,” Johnny said, pouring ketchup onto his plate. “That’s how long the spectrographic analysis showed the hair owner had been involved in heavy cocaine use.”
“You have to admit, they put a lot of thinking into this plan,” Jaime said.
“Speaking of the plan, there’s one thing I’m still not sure about,” Mollie said. “Hilary, you said it was your idea to have Meredith come to New York. But if she hadn’t gone, Dayton never would have been able to set her up. Did he just act quickly, when he found out she was going, or what?”
Hilary swirled her straw around in her soda. “I thought it was my idea, but I did talk to Dayton that week. He called me, which was odd, because we don’t usually talk except at holidays. He said he wanted to wish me luck in the International Face Show.” She slapped the table with the palm of her hand. “And he asked if I thought maybe Meredith shouldn’t get into modeling, too. That’s probably what made me think of her for the Femme magazine article.”
“Call him Mr. Subliminal,” Sherman said.
“I’m surprised he was so subtle,” Roberta said. “I didn’t know he had it in him.”
“Okay, next question.” Sherman pretended to read from his napkin. “How did the cocaine get in a tea tin inside Meredith’s suitcase?”
“There was someone in the trunk of the limo,” Mollie said.
Jaime was drinking a glass of iced water, and he almost choked. “What?”
“There couldn’t have been,” Meredith said. “The trunk was full of suitcases.”
“And a little red trunk,” Mollie said. “You told me that one day when I called and asked you to tell me everything you saw in there.” Meredith nodded. “When we were at the party in New York, it was in Moeller’s apartment.”
“And?” Roberta prompted. “You can’t just leave us hanging!”
“Right. So I went into the bedroom and I saw a red trunk in his closet. The label on the trunk said EASTERN STUNTS AND NOVELTIES,” Mollie explained.
“And DeDario used to be a magician,” Roberta said. “You think it was a fake trunk and he hid inside it?”
Mollie shook her head. “Too small.”
“Moeller!” Jaime cried. “That little weasel.”
“After they unloaded all the suitcases at the airport and checked them, Moeller crawled out of the trunk again and called Benjamin to tell him exactly where he’d stashed the coke,” Johnny said.
“It’s true. Benjamin didn’t search my bag. He went straight for the tea tin,” Meredith said.
“When I saw your suitcase in the evidence room and it wasn’t all ripped up, it just seemed too easy. My dad implied that Benjamin had fixed cases in the past—said he wasn’t quite on the up-and-up, but nobody could touch him because of politics,” Mollie said.
“And politicians like Dayton Hughes,” Jaime said.
“Do you guys have any idea why all those models were flying to Hong Kong and Rio?” Roberta asked. “I never figured that one out.”
“I have a theory,” Johnny said. “I think they were either carrying drugs or dating men who were carrying drugs—you know, providing a high-class escort service.”
“That makes sense,” Hilary said. “Moeller has to get his drugs from somewhere, and he’s too recognizable to do it on his own.”
“Correction, he had to get them from somewhere,” Roberta said. “Not only did Eleanor fire him today—and DeDario, too—but she had them arrested. I guess she stuck around on the boat so she could get the real story. She called me today when she was going through DeDario’s files and found my name. When I told her who I was, she told me what happened after we left Dayton’s boat and thanked me. She’s determined to clean up her agency and get it back on track.”
“What did happen after we left?” Mollie asked.
“General mayhem,” Roberta said. “They fished Moeller out of the water. DeDario got seasick. Eleanor pretended that she wanted to get in on the drug ring, so they told her everything, even though Dayton warned them not to. He couldn’t get the boat back to shore fast enough. Oh, and Rahel’s been fired, too.”
Mollie had seen Rahel’s sister Jackie off at the airport that morning. They’d exchanged addresses and promised to keep in touch. Jackie was more resolved than ever to stay away from drugs, and her older sister, at least for a while.
“I don’t want you guys to think that all modeling agencies are like this,” Hilary said. “And you know, it was only a couple of people in Whistler who were involved. I believe Eleanor when she says it’s going to be clean from now on.”
“I do, too,” said Roberta.
“Mollie, when did you start suspecting my uncle?” Meredith asked.
“When we looked into other people’s pasts, and his name kept coming up. We found out he was connected to Benjamin and DeDario.”
“He called in some favors, is what she means,” Johnny added.
“Then right after Roberta and I talked to him, you changed your story and said you were guilty,” Mollie said. “I knew he must have gotten to you somehow.”
“The only problem is, unless Han Wu shows up, I doubt you have a case against him as far as the drowning goes,” Roberta said.
“Yeah, my sister’s boyfriend is a lawyer,” Sherman said, “and he says the testimony of two kids is always suspect, and especially in this case because what looked like a shove to you could have just been a friendly pat. Without the cook, there’s not much of a case.”
“You told someone what happened?” Mollie asked.
“I changed the names,” Sherman said. “The discussion was purely hypothetical.”
“Well, at least Uncle Dayton’s withdrawn from the governor’s race. That’s one good thing to come from all of this,” said Hilary.
“Where’s Dayton now?” Roberta asked.
“He’s in Europe somewhere,” Meredith said. “I hope he never comes back, unless it’s for the trial.”
“Mollie, when you came to New York, I never dreamed that this whole thing was so complicated, or that it would end up involving my uncle,” Hilary said. “Actually, I wasn’t even sure if Meredith was innocent. I guess I tried to put some distance between me and my parents by moving to New York. I was so sick of listening to them fight.”
“Or not listening to them talk,” Meredith added.
Hilary nodded. “I think Meredith got caught in the middle. In a way, it’s kind of a good thing that this all happened.”
“Yeah, I feel like I got my big sister back.”
“It’s really too bad this all had to happen now, though,” Hilary said. “I was kind of counting on being the new international face.”
“So was Bitsy,” Johnny joked. “She’s crushed.”
“I wonder if Parker still has that sticker on her back.” Mollie laughed.
“In case you guys are wondering, I did know all about Dad and Rahel,” Meredith said. “They’re history, now—thank God. I couldn’t stand her.”
“Did you know, too?” Mollie asked Hilary.
Hilary nodded. “Do you think I’d hate her half as much if I didn’t know?”
“Anyway, our mom’s coming back from Hawaii tomorrow, and we’re going to try to talk about things,” Meredith said. “Who knows, maybe we can be a real family again. At least until Friday, when Hilary goes back to New York.”
“I might stick around a little longer than that,” Hilary said. “We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.” She looked at Meredith and grinned.
“So do we,” said Sherman. “These french fries are getting cold.”
EPILOGUE
“I told you she wasn’t guilty. I knew it all along.”
“You’re lying. Nobody knew that for sure.”
“Well, I didn’t believe she would do it.”
“It’s the people you don’t think are doing it who are doing it. The ones who look the most normal are usually hiding the most.”
“Can I make a suggestion? I’m sick of talking about Meredith Hughes and drugs. It’s boring.”
“Yeah.”
“You guys should have theme nights. Hello? Monitor?”
“Yes,” Mollie said.
“We think you should have theme nights, you know? In order to focus the discussions. Not all the time, just some of the time.”
“We’ve thought about it,” said Mollie. “What topics do you want to discuss?”
“Cars.”
“Clothes.”
“Sex.”
“School policies.”
“Latino culture and the stereotypes people have.”
Mollie thought Jaime would handle that discussion well. It was a problem he said he ran into often. She couldn’t take much more of the Truth Line, though. This was her third night that week monitoring it—Sherman caught the flu, and Johnny was working overtime to make up for the days he’d missed in the past few weeks. She pressed the mute button and decided to call Roberta.
“Hey, what’s up?” she asked when Roberta answered the phone.
“Not much. I’m trying to get my homework done so Jaime and I can spend the day together tomorrow. What’s up with you?”
“I’m working. My family went to Disneyland today, and believe it or not, I’m actually wishing that I went with them,” Mollie said.
“Why didn’t you?” asked Roberta.
“It just seemed too childish this morning,” Mollie said. “But right now, I’d rather be whirling around in a teacup than sitting in this creepy basement.”
“Want me to come over? I could do my homework there.”
“Wait a second—the other private line’s ringing. I’ll make it a conference call,” Mollie said. She pressed the appropriate buttons so that all three lines would be connected. “Hello?”
An older woman immediately started jabbering in Spanish.
“Slow down,” Mollie said. “Who is this? I think you have the wrong number.” Only Truth Club members had the number for the private lines.
“You are my grandson Jaime’s friends, no?” the woman asked. “He tell me to call this number if I ever need him and he is not home. He is not here, I do not know where he is, and I am very worried,” she said in a thick accent.
“When did you last see him?” Mollie asked.
“This morning he goes fishing with his grandfather. He does not come back yet, and his dinner is getting cold. Supposed to be back by one or two, he says. Now it is seven, maybe eight. What happen to him?”
Mollie didn’t think there was anything to worry about. She knew Jaime could take care of himself. Then she remembered he was diabetic. If there had been an accident on their fishing trip, and Jaime didn’t get his insulin, he’d be in trouble.
“Roberta, do you know where he is?” Mollie asked. “Has he called you in the past couple of hours?”
“No, and he didn’t tell me what he was doing today. He just said he couldn’t see me, because he was busy,” Roberta said. “And now he’s missing? This sounds weird.”
“Calm down,” Mollie told Jaime’s grandmother, who was crying. “Don’t worry. We’ll find Jaime.”
Turn the page to continue reading from the Molly Fox Mysteries series
CHAPTER 1
“This is really scaring me, Mollie!”
Mollie knew that Roberta Baldwin didn’t scare easily. Cradling the phone between her cheek and shoulder, Mollie grabbed a pen from the desk in front of her. As Roberta spoke, Mollie jotted notes on the back of a crumpled receipt from the video-rental store.
Jaime … missing … diabetic … needs insulin … gone fishing with his grandfather … maybe??? Insulin! Insulin! Insulin! … Remember! Don’t tell Roberta.
“Okay, get a grip,” Mollie finally interrupted her friend. “I bet Jaime is fine. He’s probably just been delayed.”
“You’re right,” Roberta agreed, calming herself. “I’m sure he’s fine, too. It’s just that I finally get a boyfriend, and he goes and gets himself missing. But probably not missing. But maybe missing. What if he fell in the woods on his way back from fishing and broke his leg and can’t get up and … and …”
“Would you feel better if we went and looked for him ourselves?” Mollie asked.
“I know it’s silly … but would you mind?”
“No, I don’t mind. I’d feel better, too. You know me and waiting.”
“It makes you insane.”
“Totally.” Mollie did hate to wait, but she was anxious to find their friend Jaime Santos for another reason. Jaime was a diabetic. If he was stranded somewhere without his insulin, he could be in big trouble. She couldn’t tell Roberta this. Jaime had sworn Mollie to secrecy. “Sherman will be here in five minutes to run the line,” she told Roberta. “I’ll pick you up in about a half hour.”
“Thanks, Mol,” Roberta said, hanging up.
Mollie pushed back on the desk chair and absently gathered her shoulder-length red hair on top of her head. She sat for a moment, her hands resting on her head, and gazed around the basement room.
The room had a long history. It had been a bomb shelter in the fifties and had stayed that way, quiet and thankfully unbombed, until Nick Keverian rediscovered it several months back.
The forgotten bomb shelter was the perfect place to set up his Insurance Shoppe, a sham company specializing in worthless earthquake insurance. It was rent free. And it wasn’t included on the blueprint of the Old Bayside Mall, under which it was located. No one knew that it even existed.
At least not anyone who could get in Nick’s way. Or so he thought. Just a bunch of naive teenagers he hired to sell bogus insurance, unwittingly, over the phone.
Mollie Fox had been one of them. So had Roberta Baldwin, Meredith Hughes, Janet Tze, Johnny Chelios, Sherman Hermanson, and Jaime Santos. The seven very different teens might never have become close if it hadn’t been for one earthshaking event.
The insurance was fake, but the earthquake turned out to be quite real.
Since they were in Bayside, a suburb of San Francisco, the chances of an earthquake occurring weren’t entirely remote. Minor dishrattlers happened with some regularity. This earthquake was a bit more formidable. It wasn’t the cataclysmic California-into-the-ocean quake that people feared. But it definitely made its mark on the Richter scale.
It made its mark on Old Bayside Mall, too. Specifically, a good deal of the mall collapsed on top of the bomb shelter. The bomb shelter that everyone had forgotten about.
That was how Mollie and the others got trapped together. Keverian and his sidekick, Benny Musante, had left early that evening, leaving them behind. And they stayed there—hungry and terrified—for sixty hours. Keverian didn’t want anyone snooping in his illegal business, so he “forgot” to mention the trapped teens to the authorities. Their families knew they were missing, but they weren’t sure where to tell the rescue teams to look.
