Carol Clark - Burned

Joy shook her head. “They were going to sit by the pool today and do their dunking, as they like to say, but then all of a sudden they decided to check out more hotels. They don’t want to go to the ball and said they’d see us tomorrow.” She shrugged. “I don’t know what’s going on with them.”

“What do you mean?” Regan asked.

Joy rolled her eyes. “They usually make us stick together for every meal so they can count every penny we spend. For the twins to be gone for lunch and dinner is highly unusual, believe me. And they said they were going to a sunrise service tomorrow morning so they won’t be here for breakfast, either. Praise the Lord.”

“Thanks for your help,” Regan said.

“No problem. Anything wrong?”

“No.”

Regan hurried back to Will’s office. “They’re gone for the day and night. Will, I’m worried. I’ll bet you anything they’re on their way back to Kona, and I’ll also bet that’s where Carla and Jason are.”

Quickly Regan sat down and called Mike Darnell. “Mike, I need a passenger list for a flight yesterday to Kona.” She explained the situation.

Within minutes he called back. “All the parties you mentioned were on that flight yesterday. The two women returned in the evening, but the couple didn’t show up for their flight. They didn’t return their rental car, either, and they said they’d bring it back yesterday afternoon. It’s a white sedan with traces of yellow paint on the side. The two women just got off a flight that landed in Kona ten minutes ago.”

“Oh, my God. We’ve got to find them.”

“That’s a big island. It’s why they call it that.”

“Can you put out a bulletin for the rental car? I’m going to get a flight over there now.”

“And then what?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Regan, I just talked to a buddy of mine who has a private plane. He said he was heading out to the airport. Let me give him a call and see if he can take us over to the Big Island. Hold on a second.” Regan waited tensely until Mike came back on. “I’ll pick you up in fifteen minutes outside the hotel. This is probably crazy.”

“It’s not,” Regan said firmly. She hung up the phone and looked at Will. “I need to get into the twins’ room.”

“Regan, I don’t know if I can-”

“Will, I absolutely need to-”

“Let’s go,” he said for the second time that morning. They dashed out of his office.

In the twins’ room there seemed to be two of everything: two pairs of matching fuzzy slippers, two identical bathrobes, two pink suitcases. Regan went over to the desk and pulled the drawer open. Inside she found a thick file. She pulled out its contents. “Architectural drawings for a house,” she breathed. Regan read the words written across the top of the first sketch-“Gert and Ev’s Kona dream house.” “They’re using Sal Hawkins’s money to build a house.” She stuffed the file in her bag.

“I don’t know whether you should take those,” Will warned.

“I’m taking them. The twins won’t be back until tomorrow.” She looked through the rest of the desk, closet, and bureau drawers but found nothing.

They raced back downstairs where Mike Darnell was already waiting.

Gert and Ev had rented a car at the airport. To their distress, the line had been long and the car hadn’t been gassed up. By the time they filled the tank and pulled out of the gas station, they were both feeling impatient and edgy. They were now speeding up to their dream house.

“Boy, is this a change of plans,” Gert commented.

“Things are getting too tense,” Ev answered. “There was something about the way that girl was poking around on the floor today, helping you pick up all your junk.”

“I gave her my scary look,” Gert answered. “But she did see that Kona postcard.”

“I saw her take note of that. I just want to get that couple out of our house before anyone finds them there. And their stupid car. The sooner we get rid of them, the better.” She stepped on the gas.

“So we’re not going to throw them in the water tonight?”

“We’ll see. We’ll strangle them now, stuff their bodies in the trunk, and then see if we can abandon the car somewhere.”

“I’d rather let it go over a cliff.”

“Me, too. But it’s several more hours until dark. I don’t want to wait that long.” She turned off the main highway onto a two-lane road that wound up a mountain. They were only a few miles from the house.

“We’re almost there, sister.”

“We certainly are.”

“When we land, they’ll have a list of all the real estate agents for us,” Mike told Regan. “Although who knows when the twins bought the land. They may not have had any dealings with anyone for a while.”

“And I’m sure the house is being built privately and they’re using false names,” Regan added. “But those two are easily identifiable. How many female identical twins in their sixties are on the Big Island building their dream house?” She looked down at the sketches for the exterior of the house, the expansive kitchen with a view of the ocean in the distance, the matching master bedroom suites. She tried to slip the drawings back in the folder, but something was in the way. Another piece of paper. Regan pulled it out and unfolded it. It was a sketch for a barbed wire fence.

“Will, Regan needs to speak to you now!” Janet called to him. He was out by the front desk talking to Jazzy and Claude. “It’s urgent!”

Jazzy and Claude hurried off. Will got on the phone, listened, dropped it, and ran after Claude. “What’s your address on the Big Island?”

A police car was waiting for Regan and Mike at the Kona airport. They hopped in, Officer Lance Curtis turned on the siren, and they took off. Let them be there, Regan prayed. Please. She knew with certainty that Jason and Carla were in grave danger. Just let them be alive.

Jason and Carla heard the upstairs door open. Carla’s eyes were wide with terror. They’re back, she thought. It’s over. She bent her head and started to pray again. Jason had already done so.

The basement door opened. “Here we are,” Ev called. “Back to take care of the bad girl and bad boy.” The sisters lumbered down the steps.

The police car sped up the long, curving private road to Claude’s house. It was heavily wooded, unpaved, and bumpy. At the top Regan, Mike, and Lance jumped out of the car. They ran around the back of Claude’s house and immediately spotted the barbed wire fence along the left side of the property.

“The twins’ house must be in that direction,” Regan shouted.

“It’ll take a few minutes to go back down the hill and around. The entrance to their driveway must be from the other side of these woods.” Officer Curtis ran to the trunk and pulled a wire cutter out of the police car. A few minutes later Regan, Mike, and the officer were racing up a hill and through the woods.

When they reached the top of the mountain, they could see the house. It was in the middle of a large piece of land. In the driveway there was a white car with traces of yellow paint on the side.

“That’s Carla and Jason’s car. They must be in there!” Regan cried.

“Do you have anything to say to Gert and Ev before you die?” Ev asked, sounding half crazed. She was standing behind Jason, and Gert was behind Carla. They were ready to close their hands around their necks and squeeze the life out of them.

Carla and Jason had been silently crying. As soon as the twins pulled the gags out of their mouths, sobs permeated the room.

“Please!” Carla begged.

“Sorry,” Ev answered. “You did a very bad thing. We don’t want you to spoil our fun. Because we deserve to have some fun.”