Carol Clark - Burned

Francie laughed. “Maybe they got lucky.”

“W hy did you have to follow us?” Ev asked Jason and Carla. “Why? You should have known that that was a very bad idea.”

Jason and Carla were tied up in the basement of Gert and Ev’s newly built, nearly finished home on the Big Island. The smell of sawdust was still in the air. The house was up in the hills, twelve hundred feet above sea level, nestled in a rural wooded section of the island. Gert and Ev planned to move in lock, stock, and barrel by early summer. They figured they’d have lots of privacy on their six-acre lot. The next-door neighbor could only be reached by taking an overgrown path though the woods. But Gert and Ev could stand on their deck and see the Pacific Ocean way off in the distance. They had a large swimming pool and a hot tub for cold mornings in the mountains. It was their dream home purchased with Sal Hawkins’s money that should have been spent on waterlogged Hudville residents.

“You couldn’t mind your own business, could you?” Gert asked. “You followed us out of the restaurant and thought you were being sneaky. Or did you just happen to come up this way? Our long, winding driveway is not exactly a busy thoroughfare.”

“You were so rude to us at the airport,” Carla snapped.

“Since when is being rude a crime?” Ev retorted. “Gert, did you know being rude is a crime?”

“No, sister. I certainly didn’t.”

“Then what crime did you commit?” Carla asked with more bravado than she felt. “Just because we drove up your driveway, you don’t have to hold us against our will. You could have just told us to get lost.”

“You were getting into our business,” Ev declared. “And now you’ve made us miss our flight back to Oahu. We’re not happy about that.”

“I hate missing my dinner,” Gert said as she blew on the pistol she had in her hands. The sight of the pistol was the only reason Jason did as he was told.

“Let us go,” Jason implored. “Let’s just forget we ever ran into you.”

Ev shook her head. “I don’t think so. We know that you’ll go and tell everyone about our hideaway. Right, Gert?”

“Sure enough, sister.”

“Then what are you going to do with us?” Carla asked, practically choking on her words.

“We have to figure that out. But I don’t anticipate a very pleasant outcome for you. Gert and I have a lot to look forward to, and we don’t want anyone to ruin our plans.”

“So do we,” Carla cried. “We just got engaged. I want to get married!”

“Gert can marry you. She’s an online minister.”

“I’d rather die!” Carla spat.

“Maybe you will, my dear,” Ev answered. “Let’s go, sister. We have to see if we can get a later flight back to Oahu. We have to be there first thing in the morning or else our tour group will start to wonder.”

“Are you just going to leave us here?” Jason asked. His hands were tied behind his back, and they ached. Ev had tied them so tightly, his circulation was being cut off.

“We’ll be back to take care of you tomorrow night when it’s dark and no one is around. But first we have to make sure you don’t try to make too much noise.” Ev pulled some torn sheets from a bag on the floor. “Here, sister.” She nodded to Gert.

Quickly the two of them tied gags around Carla and Jason’s mouths.

Gert pointed the gun at the couple. “Don’t try anything funny. You’ll be sorry if you do.” She turned, followed her twin up the steps, and flicked off the light.

G lenn the bellman took a quick break shortly after Ned had handed over the shopping bag. He went into a tiny staff lavatory off the package room where they stored all the suitcases, packages, surfboards, and golf clubs that were waiting to be delivered to guests’ rooms. It was a Friday afternoon, large groups of people were checking in, and it was a madhouse. Glenn was sure he could slip away for a couple of minutes and not be noticed since there were several other bellmen on duty.

The bathroom rated high on the gross-out scale. In fact, gas station latrines were more inviting.

But Glenn didn’t care. He’d chosen it because of that. He knew that he’d have more privacy here. Girls wouldn’t come within ten feet of this place, and even the guys preferred to use the decent bathrooms down the hall from the bell station, as opposed to this little box that had somehow escaped the renovation process. It also seemed to have escaped attention from any maid for the last twenty years.

Glenn’s conversation with Ned had sparked his curiosity. Ned had seemed nervous. What exactly was in the box? What kind of toys was he talking about? It looked like a pretty sloppy wrapping job. He was sure that he could take a peek at the box’s contents, reseal it, and leave it for Ned’s friend to pick up.

He locked the door and flicked the seat cover down on the toilet. It landed with a bang. He sat down and pulled the box out of the shopping bag. The hula girls on the wrapping paper were smiling at him, as if they knew what he was up to. Glenn shook the box. It rattled.

A piece of tape had become unstuck, and the wrapping paper that had covered a side of the box spread open. Glenn laughed. “This is too easy.”

Glenn was something of an expert at fishing around people’s bags and packages, and at slithering in and out of rooms at the hotel. He was able to appear and disappear without people taking much notice, and if they did, he could say he was doing something for Will. He had really pulled the wool over Will’s eyes and used it to his great advantage. Will thought that he was Glenn’s mentor. Huh! I could mentor him on a few things, Glenn thought.

Glenn rested the box on his knees. Carefully he pulled another piece of tape off the wrapping paper, trying not to destroy the image of the hula girl. He slid the box out and dropped the paper in the shopping bag. He lifted the top off the box and placed that in the shopping bag as well. He then turned his full attention to the contents of the box. He couldn’t believe his eyes! There were no toys inside. Glenn slowly lifted two exquisite shell leis into the air.

“Oh, my God!” he whispered. “These are the stolen royal leis. I can’t believe what a liar Ned is!” He unhooked his cell phone from his belt and made a call. “You are not going to believe what I have in my hands!” Quickly he recounted his story. Then he listened. “Yes! That’s a wonderful idea. Better than anything we’ve done so far! Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

Glenn turned off his cell phone, returned it to his belt, wrapped up the now empty box, and placed the leis at the bottom of the shopping bag. He returned to the storage room, found another shopping bag, and slipped the leis into it. He scooted out to the garage and placed both bags in the trunk of his Honda. Then he hurried to one of the hotel shops where he knew they sold newspapers, magazines, and cheap shell leis. He purchased two of the leis, went back to his car, put the new leis inside the box, and resealed the wrapping paper. He left the valuable leis in his trunk. Then he returned to the bell station, slid the shopping bag Ned gave him under the counter, and told the captain that it would be picked up by a friend of Ned’s, one of the hotel’s trainers.

Glenn couldn’t wait until his dinner break. It wouldn’t be long. Then he’d get a chance to have a little fun with the royal leis. Let Will try to explain this one, he thought gleefully. Just another day at the Waikiki Waters Playground and Resort.

R egan decided to stop on the beach for a few minutes before going back to the room. She sat on the sand, pulled out her cell phone, and called Jack. Quickly she filled him in on what she had found in Dorinda’s apartment, as well as the fact that the leis had been stolen again.