Ник Сайнт - Purrfect Advice. Purrfect Passion. A Purrfect Gnomeful

Dooley shivered. “I don’t like bugs, Max. They scare me. Especially the poisonous ones.”

“Don’t worry, buddy. I’m pretty sure there’s plenty of bug spray lying around. They wouldn’t want their contestants to get eaten alive before they have the chance to be seduced by one of the bigger bugs called seducers.”

Odelia laughed. “I’m glad they let me bring you guys along,” she said. “I would have felt pretty lonely without my two babes.”

“I wonder what Harriet and Brutus are up to right now,” said Dooley as he hopped up onto the couch and made himself comfortable. “Harriet really wanted to come.”

“She’ll be fine,” Max assured him. “She’ll be able to watch the show from the comfort and safety of her own home while we brave the elements to create the show.”

“I hope those cameras aren’t equipped with sound,” Dooley said after a pause, as he darted anxious glances around the room. “Otherwise they’ll wonder why one of the contestants keeps talking to her cats.”

Odelia gave him a startled look. “You’re right,” she said. “We better watch out what we say.”

“Isn’t there somewhere we can speak freely?” asked Max. “A place where they haven’t installed cameras?”

“There is a place,” said Odelia. “Kimmy told me there’s some sort of shack where the gardeners store their gear. She assured me it hasn’t been wired.”

“So let’s meet there when we have something important to share,” Max suggested.

Odelia nodded. It was also where Kimmy had told her she could safely talk to Chase. Every morning at dawn she and Chase had arranged to touch base and go over the events of the day. She was already looking forward to it. The only problem was that the rest of the resort was being watched, so she’d have to tread carefully in order to get to the shack and back without creating suspicion.

Just then, Kimmy entered and gave her a bracing smile. “How are you holding up?” she asked.

Odelia glanced around. “I feel as if I’ve entered a maximum-security prison.”

Kimmy’s smile widened. “It’ll be fine,” she said. “Try to relax and have some fun. Most candidates who join Passion Island have a great time on the island.” Then, as she lowered her voice to a whisper, she added, “And keep your eyes peeled at all times.”

And with this admonition, the young assistant producer left the villa.

Chapter 17

The villa where we’d arrived, our new home away from home, was very nice. It wasn’t actually home, of course. And soon I started feeling a little anxious. It took Dooley to make me realize why that was.

“I miss our friends, Max,” he said as we traversed the path that led from Odelia’s villa to the main compound. “I miss Harriet and Brutus and Kingman and Shanille and I even miss Clarice.”

“I miss them too,” I told him. Then again, we’d agreed to come on this trip with Odelia, and it was important we made the best of it.

The heart of the resort consisted of a five-star restaurant where the candidates ate, a plaza with a bar, a spa, a swimming pool and second restaurant for the production crew, which ate their meals separately from the contestants. The plaza was the hub of the resort nightlife, where the seducers worked their magic to accomplish their mission.

Past the compound a path led down to the beach, and that’s where we found Odelia, seated on a flat rock, gazing out across the sea at the setting sun. It was a beautiful scene, and as Dooley and I admired the picture-postcard setting, suddenly a sound like a buffalo stomping reached our ears, and as we both jerked up in anxious anticipation, a heavyset man came crashing through the brush. He sported a wispy beard, sunglasses perched on his nose, camera hoisted on his shoulder, and was dressed in a loud flowery shirt and mauve boxers. “Hey, Odelia,” he said, panting. “Stay right where you are!”

Odelia, who was as startled as we were by this interruption, blinked a couple times.

“Just act as if I’m not here!” said the cameraman, which was a little hard to accomplish. “Beautiful,” he murmured as he trained his camera on Odelia. “Wonderful. Amazing. Now toss your hair across your shoulders, honey. Yeah, that’s it. That’s the ticket, sweetie. Now give me one of those sultry looks… Love the blush! Great look.”

It wasn’t a blush, exactly, but more a sign of impending doom. Doom for the cameraman, though he didn’t know it yet.

“Could you lose the top, sweetheart?”

Odelia gritted her teeth then snapped, “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Um… my job?” said the guy, surprised by this retort.

“Let’s make one thing perfectly clear,” said Odelia. “I’m not losing my top, and I’m not going to try and look sexy for your damn camera. I’m not a pinup, so get lost.”

“But—“

“Get lost!”

With a sheepish look on his face, the cameraman heeded her words and got lost.

“What’s a pinup, Max?” asked Dooley. “And why did that man want Odelia to get undressed?”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about that, Dooley,” I said. “The man was confused.”

“You mean he mistook Odelia for someone else?”

“Exactly,” I said. “He probably thought Odelia was his girlfriend and wanted her to pose for him.”

“What a strange man,” said Dooley, “that he doesn’t even remember what his own girlfriend looks like.”

“Some men are like that,” I said. “They forget what their girlfriend looks like and start hitting on some other girl. It happens all the time.” Especially on Passion Island, I could have added, but didn’t. I was starting to see that this trip wasn’t just dangerous for Odelia’s well-being, but for Dooley’s innocence, too, and was going to prove a challenge for my capacity to keep explaining away the strange happenings that took place there.

I thought it better to leave Odelia to enjoy these precious few moments of peace and quiet, so Dooley and I continued our perambulation. There were more villas spread out across the resort, not just for the contestants but also, I imagined, for the seducers, which was probably convenient. That way they could sneak into a contestant’s chalet and be home before sunup. The production crew, meanwhile, stayed at a large villa on the other side of the resort, and since we weren’t there to admire the view but to solve the mystery of the vanishing candidates, we decided to head on over and stake out the place.

The villa was built in hacienda style, with a wraparound porch and brightly colored window shutters. We entered the house via the front door, which was open, and found that the place was buzzing with activity. I saw the camera guy who’d accosted Odelia lament his fate to his comrades in a room off the main lobby, and watched as Clint Bunda stalked across the floor, barking orders into his cell phone. At least he was allowed to keep his phone, which didn’t seem entirely fair, I thought.

I even saw Kimmy, seated in an adjacent room at a desk, bent over her laptop and typing away.

“So many people,” said Dooley as we sat in a quiet corner and surveyed the activity.

“It takes a lot of people to create a big show like this,” I said. “People you don’t see since they all work behind the scenes.”

“So how are we going to find out who’s making these women disappear?” he asked.

It was an excellent question. There were easily dozens of people, holed up in the different rooms that made up the ground floor, which had been turned into offices. The room where Kimmy sat working, surrounded by others also pecking away on their laptops, had a sign that indicated this was normally the luggage room. And the room where the camera crew sat reposing was the massage parlor, though of massage activities there was to date no trace.