Chapter 20: The Unwrapping

Phineas yawned as he left the examination room. That he fell asleep wasn't a shock. He'd been up all night dealing with the aftermath of the shack showdown. The surprising aspect was that the hospital staff allowed him to sleep for a few hours rather than waking him up to discharge him.

Although calling it a hospital might be pushing it. Closer to a walk-in clinic, it did handle some surgeries and had a few rooms for extended stays. It also had a waiting nook, not a waiting room, which is where Phinn found his partner flirting with a nurse in her early twenties.

“It looks like my friend is ready to go. Nice meeting you, Bethany,” Jake said, briefly touching the blushing brunette’s arm. “You all good?”

“Nothing is broken, but I have bruised ribs,” Phinn replied after Bethany left. “Flirting with the whole nursing staff?”

“Nah, Bethany’s a nurse’s aide. I guess they have a nurse shortage around here,” Jake clarified. “I had to pass the time somehow, while you got examined. What did you fall asleep back there?”

“I suspect you already know the answer,” Phinn said, glancing over his shoulder to where Bethany whispered and giggled with another female hospital employee. “We’re buying a stun gun, or you’re taking the beating next time.”

“Whoa! I took on a crazy person who thought he was a werewolf!” Jake defended his night’s activities.

“Ohmigawd! The werewolf wasn’t real?” Phinn questioned mockingly.

“I knew it. You’re going to tease me about this for weeks.”

“Months…probably years,” the bespectacled sleuth admitted. “For sure until I feel better.”

“Damn, Flamand really worked you over,” Jake commented, watching Phinn wince as he sat in the other chair. “Maybe you shouldn’t have egged him on so much.”

“Me?! The guy has an unhinged, irrational obsession with our kind,” Phinn declared. “I still can’t believe he had the nerve to compare me to Rex Hardaway.”

“I’d take it as a compliment,” Jake replied before noticing his best friend’s expected expression. “Or not. I mean, there are some similarities.”

“Maybe the younger brother turning into a masked villain, but you say anything else, and I’ll make you pay for it,” Phinn threatened.

“Besides being a legend, he landed a hot wife!” Jake pointed out, grinning. “And we did take down the Whiskey Witch’s son. That should raise our rep, and maybe score us an invite to–”

“We are never, ever taking part in the Hardaways' stupid competition. That’s dumb shit that groups like The Factfinders dream about,” Phinn stated. “Besides, they don’t accept duos.”

“We can always have Dusty come back,” Jake suggested hopefully. “You do owe me, you know.”

“How?”

“I’m the one who insisted that you take the fork with you last night.”

“I would’ve found something else to use,” Phinn snapped, irritated that the fork to the eyeball might be what he’s best known for from now on. “What’s the deal? Didn’t anyone wait with you?”

“Leighton drove Catherine and Portia back to the house once they were cleared,” Jake recounted. “One of the locals outside is going to take us back. Probably the weird one, as Leroy is friends with Vince. He hasn’t been discharged yet with his concussion.”

“What about Terstad?”

“Shit, I don’t know. Bethany said he stopped acting like a werewolf once the sun rose, yet he sounds messed up,” Jake relayed.

“I can see it,” Phinn responded before elaborating. “He’s the one who Selene seems to have altered Flamand’s hypnosis the most. I suspect Hazel’s act was a sexual fantasy of Flamand’s that Selene slightly twisted.”

“Slightly? She tried to kill you!”

“As part of an acting role in her view,” Phinn said, shrugging.

“Uh, I hate to say this, but I don’t think we can hide what happened. Your bruises are already starting to show,” Jake pointed out.

“Oh, there is no way. Besides the likely media attention, didn’t you have to show them your insurance card?”

“Crap. I did!” Jake exclaimed. “Well, at least we carry them on us, so we don’t need to call home.”

“Yes, our frequent need for medical checkups probably bought us a day or two. Okay, let’s find your ride,” Phinn said, wincing again as he stood up.

“Did they prescribe you anything for the pain?”

“I’m supposed to use over-the-counter stuff.”

“Damn, that’s not good,” Jake remarked, from past experiences. Usually by the end of a football season, his body felt like it had been through a train wreck. “Um, so are we getting paid for this case or what?”

---

“Great Balls of Fire!” Yvonne Ellison shrieked upon looking down from the porch at the bruises and marks she could see on Phinn’s exposed skin.

As the boys thanked their driver, the strawberry blonde raced down the stairs to wrap Phinn in a bear hug. The small, painful cry from his lips caused her to drop her arms in fright before Jake accepted a firm hug.

“I guess I'd better assemble everyone. They have questions,” Leighton announced, stepping out of the front door and onto the porch.

Phinn frowned. Usually, he found the big reveal at the end to be solid closure for a case. However, in this instance, he still had several outstanding questions that needed to be answered. Fortunately, a few of the missing pieces would soon fall into place.

“Hi, guys!” Deputy Allen greeted, appearing beside the garage. “I thought you’d want to know that we checked the barn as you suggested.”

“Great! Let’s see what you found,” Phinn responded, already turning in that direction.

“Uh, okay,” Jake sounded. “Um, be back in a few minutes.”

Walking with the sheriff’s deputy, Jake and Phinn had just passed the garage when Allen started chatting away.

“Wow, I didn’t know you guys were detectives.”

“We preferred to keep that under wraps while helping Leighton and Paisley investigate Flamand,” Phinn stated.

“That’s so cool. I loved the Hardy Boys as a kid. My dad had a large stack of them. I even subscribed to The Crime Confessor magazine for a year. Then, Little League and girls took over my life,” the early twentyish man recounted.

“Jake’s managed to weather football and girls while still investigating,” Phinn remarked.

“I’m still working on getting Phinn to see the benefits of girls. It’s a work-in-progress,” Jake cracked.

“Unfortunately, The Crime Confessor went out of business about five years ago,” Phinn revealed, ignoring his friend’s teasing. “All that remains is a trashy tabloid website.”

“Cool! Will this case get you mentioned on there?” the excited deputy inquired.

“Preferably not–”

“Hopefully!” Jake admitted, cutting off his partner.

“Oh!” Deputy Allen exclaimed, slapping his forehead as they reached he barn. “Sheriff Wheeler had me check the telephone poles. You were right. I found a tap. It was an old-style device. I only recognized it because my grandfather has one just like it.”

“Your grandfather taps phones?” Jake questioned, wondering about the citizens of Lumlow. The small town did feel rather odd.

“What? Oh, no!” Allen denied, laughing. “Grandpa worked for the telephone company for over forty years. He has a collection of unusual things he found on the job.”

“Hmm, I wonder why Flamand–or I guess Atwood, since that’s his real name—felt the need to tap the phone line,” Phinn pondered as they entered the barn.

“We might have found a possible explanation,” the deputy hinted, leading them about three-quarters into the barn’s rear.

There, they found a hole dug into the ground about five feet from the sidewall. Deputy Allen briefly explained that a hay bale had been used to cover the hole. However, the hole had been empty when they discovered it.

“We did find a case in Atwood’s vehicle roughly the same size.”

“What was in it?” Jake questioned.

“I really can’t share that–”

“Aw, c’mon, Allen. Look at what he did to me,” Phinn pressed, gesturing to his bruises.

“You didn't hear it from me, okay?” After the teens assured him they wouldn’t say a word, Allen continued. “There was a laptop inside. However, we can’t access it. The state police are sending someone who knows how to break the encryption. However, there were some handwritten notes inside about the people staying here.”

“What kind of notes?” Phinn queried.

“Some biographical, some financial,” the deputy whispered, despite no one else being present in the barn. “There was also a copy of the Darlingport Post. It’s from two weeks ago and has an article about–”

“Dammit!” Phinn interrupted, kicking a hay bale before wincing in pain.

“The hell?” Jake questioned his partner.

“Uh, you’re correct,” Deputy Allen confirmed, speculating on the reason for the teen’s mood. “It was an article about your Phantom Diver with a picture of Jake dressed up.”

“Oh, that’s right! We heard the story was covered down in Darlingport,” Jake recalled proudly.

“This is precisely why we don’t want publicity,” Phinn proclaimed, storming over toward the barn door before stopping. “Still, Flamand removed all the phones but one before we arrived. So the tap couldn’t have been because of us.”

“Thanks for the info, Deputy,” Jake said, covering for his best friend as usual. “If you ask me, the publicity part is fun.”

Jake hurried after his partner, catching up near the house’s side door.

“Geez, Phinn, it’s not a big deal.”

“Not a big deal? That’s two rookie mistakes I’ve made on this case. We should’ve torn that barn apart as soon as we suspected Flamand might be hiding something inside. Instead, we remained in the dark about what he knew, and it almost cost us,” Phinn explained.

“Well, I guess, but it all worked out in the end…didn’t it?”

“I only got the shit kicked out of me,” Phinn complained, throwing out his arms before yanking the door open.

Upon entering the house, they heard loud voices from the front. Making their way in that direction, Jake and Phinn found Yvonne and Marie embracing a man they once found mysterious.

“I don’t know what exactly happened. One minute, I was checking that man’s car, and the next, I’m waking up in the bushes,” Vince recounted.

Noticing Leighton about to speak, Phinn stepped forward.

“Leighton and I are the ones who rolled you into the bushes. We found you unconscious next to the car almost simultaneously with when Selene arrived. Sorry, but we wanted to keep you out of harm’s way,” Phinn lied, causing Leighton’s eyes to widen in surprise.

“Oh, wow. Thanks!” Vince responded cheerfully.

“I still don’t understand why you quit,” Yvonne stated.

“I didn’t. You fired me,” the gardener revealed.

“Fiddlesticks! I would never fire you,” Yvonne insisted.

“Actually, your exact words were about my services no longer being required,” Vince replied. “I thought it seemed very strange. Vonnie, you acted almost robotically, like you were on drugs. Then, that Jean-Paul came to the door and took over the conversation.”

“Goodness gracious! I don’t remember any of this.”

“Rafael and I had our suspicions about Flamand. So when Raffy asked Marie what happened, and she said that I’d quit, we knew something fishy might be going on around here. He tried to keep an eye on things during his regular days around the stable. However, since Raffy had other stables and horses to maintain, I’d come over and try to keep an eye on things from the forest. That’s why I was spotted in the woods a few times. I’m still shocked that I was chased with an ax,” Vince admitted, shaking his head.

“I believe I can offer explanations,” Phinn said, glancing over at Leighton.

“Everyone is assembled in the sitting room,” the redhead announced. Still, Leighton lingered behind as the rest moved into the mentioned room. “Why did you lie?”

“We’ve found it’s better to avoid mentioning the crimes we may have committed in the course of an investigation. I mean, you did assault Vince,” Phinn pointed out.

“Yep, we learned to keep quiet about stuff. Hell, we’ve trespassed easily a hundred times,” Jake declared.

“Oh, it’s double, if not triple that amount,” Phinn corrected before they entered the sitting room. “Don’t get us started about B&Es.”

Catherine, Portia, Adora, and Hazel immediately came over to check on the two teens. Once everyone had settled into their seats, Phinn began the post-capture reveals.

“Let’s get started by going over what I briefly mentioned last night. Jean-Paul Flamand is not a crystal healer/spiritualist/self-help guru; he’s actually a conman named Glenn Atwood. As far as we know, he’s also used the names Mattias Janus and Errol Ladd, the latter of whom at least one of you knows.”

“Yes, he swindled several people I know under that name with his fake movie production,” Catherine agreed.

“Wait, that Errol guy was Jean-Paul? I know a couple of people who invested with him,” Adora realized.

Both Phinn and Jake noted that she sat on the opposite side of the room from Troy. Jake suddenly felt a bit guilty as he might be the reason for a possible breakup. At the same time, Phinn nodded, thinking even without Flamand’s meddling, Troy appeared too insecure and jealous for the relationship to ever last.

“Glenn came from a family of criminals. His mother was Georgia Genew, who ran several grifts in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Louisiana under the guise of the Whiskey Witch. She’s somewhat infamous in our circles. Grover, his older brother, had a far more prolific list of crimes. The most recent involved running seances to connect wealthy individuals to their deceased loved ones. During the course of these ghostly encounters, the spirits would allegedly possess their relatives, inducing a feeling of being asleep. The truth was that Grover and his assistant, a woman named Diane Delatte, would rob their homes, where the seances often took place.”

“You all know Diane Delatte by the name Selene,” Jake chimed in, causing several gasps.

“A fellow teen mystery-solving group called the Gotcha Gems exposed the seance scam, sending Grover and Diane to jail, with her landing a much shorter sentence,” Phinn explained. “You were all going to meet Grover soon, as he’d been recently released from prison. He would’ve played the boogeyman you often heard about, Wolfram Voelker.”

“Galloping gremlins, I can’t believe this,” Yvonne responded, earning nods from several others.

“Complications in Atwood/Flamand’s plan arose. Diane had begun to resent the Atwood brothers and their mistakes. So when she met Grover nearby on the trail, she killed him. The number of stab wounds shows just how much she’d grown to hate her former partner,” Phinn recounted about the murder.

“But I don’t understand what Jean-Paul’s plan involved. He hypnotized us for brainwashing? Why?” Adora asked.

“You can’t brainwash people with hypnosis. It’s bullshit!” Troy declared, causing his girlfriend to glare across the room at him.

“No, no, Troy is correct,” Phinn stated before an argument could break out. “Hypnosis is not brainwashing or mind control. You can’t just wave a magic wand or pocketwatch at a person and have them do what you want.”

“I’ve heard that you can’t make a person do something they don’t want to do,” Benji said. “But I can’t understand how Hazel would try to murder you.”

“Maybe she’s a killer deep down,” Troy remarked, causing Adora and Benji to jump to their feet.

After a gesture from Phinn, Jake moved to calm the tempers. Yvonne and Catherine helped. Once everyone had retaken their seats, Phinn attempted to explain Flamand’s methods.

“Hypnosis is known for enhancing or reducing a person’s traits. This can be done by modifying their behavior, thought patterns, or emotional responses. For example, one of the most common reasons people use hypnosis is to stop smoking. The same can be said about overeating. A hypnotist might plant suggestions that make a person feel disgusted by smoking or overeating. In addition to those negative responses, you can use hypnosis to increase a person’s confidence or self-esteem. This is the area where Atwood, as Flamand, helped many of you. However, his mishmash of astrology, crystals, and so on was used as a cover for his hypnosis.”

“I feel so embarrassed,” Portia admitted, her face reddening.

“Yes, you probably shouldn’t have been taken in by Flamand’s self-help nonsense,” Phinn stated, earning an elbow into his side from Jake. Wincing, the brainy yet less socially graceful sleuth attempted to minimize his comment. “Well, what Flamand did to you was less obvious because he used an experimental technique that modified your behavior by a level of repetition not normally used. That’s how he could create these elaborate scenarios.”

“Like what he said were my performance rehearsals?” Hazel questioned.

“Yes. Through what you thought were practices to overcome your stage fright, Flamand created a scenario where you would be the aggressor. While I don’t think he ever intended you to kill anyone, I do think his goal was sexual,” Phinn revealed.

“Mothersmucker!” Yvonne roared while most people gasped.

“It’s always sex with men like him, isn’t it?” Adora remarked. “So is that what he did to me?”

“I believe the sessions he used to put you all under either had sexual or financial motivations. For the women, sex was Atwood’s primary interest,” Phinn confirmed. “However, he also had other motivations.”

“Ms. Ellison, Yvonne, your role was to provide Atwood with a secure base of operations. I understand that you’ve always been a gracious, welcoming host. However, you were manipulated into offering Flamand unprecedented control over this home. And, I’m sorry to reveal that he did take advantage of you sexually,” Phinn said, feeling sick to his stomach about the revelation.

“Jeepers creepers,” Yvonne whispered with a horrified expression.

“Wait, that’s what I saw the day you boys chased me?” Vince questioned before roaring. “He assaulted Vonnie?”

“Technically, yes. Wait, I say that because Atwood is a relatively handsome man–”

“Probably not after what you did to his eye,” Jake mumbled, while most of the women shrugged or nodded in approval with Phinn’s remark over Flamand’s attractiveness.

“So, as Flamand, he enhanced any feelings of attraction toward him through his hypnosis sessions,” Phinn continued, ignoring his partner’s comment. “I first suspected something odd, but not hypnosis, on the night Jake and Troy fell off the balcony. While Jake searched Flamand’s room, I discovered Portia and Adora in the hayloft. Initially, I thought they were lost in the throes of passion, but Flamand did something curious when he heard the fight back at the house. He returned to the barn just to shout the word oriri, which in Latin can mean to rise.”

“You and Portia? That would’ve been nice to know about or join!” Troy bellowed.

“I didn't know. I’m fucking serious. We both suddenly woke up in bed together!” Adora replied, shouting.

“She’s telling the truth. We were confused about how we ended up together in the hayloft,” Portia confirmed, although Troy didn’t appear to buy the explanation.

“Similar to Hazel wearing the slutty Cleopatra costume,” Phinn interrupted, causing the singer to blush. Jake caught Benji grabbing her hand for support. “I believe the scenario Flamand created for the two of you was a threesome.”

“Gawd, men are always the same,” the younger actress groaned.

“Yes, they are,” Catherine agreed.

“The possibility of hypnosis didn’t occur to me until yesterday morning when Jake thought he’d had sex with a ghost,” Phinn continued.

Nearly every head in the room swung around to stare at Jake with shocked, disbelieving expressions.

“It’s not like that,” the teen defended. “I was drugged!”

“Yes, I suspected as much, but I also realized something else might be afoot once it became clear that he’d had sex with Porita.”

“Wait, I did what now?” the buxom socialite questioned. “We fucked?”

“Um, yeah, but I don’t remember much either,” Jake added hastily.

“You might want to have your lawyers get involved with the evidence the police might collect from Atwood’s laptop. I suspect the red light Jake saw was from a camera.”

“Shit! I don’t need another sex tape exhortation racket!” Adora moaned, causing Jake and Phinn to perform double-takes.

Portia, whom they’d been talking about, merely shrugged at the possibility for herself.

“It comes with the business, sweetie,” Cat consoled, reaching over to pat her younger counterpart's hand.

“Okay, the gist of what I think Flamand set up for each of you is the following. Yvonne for a private base of operations, and Marie to help support that goal. Besides sex, Portia was likely one of two potential ATMs for Atwood’s lifestyle. Karter was the other, but he did so with a far more elaborate scenario, where Atwood wanted to convince him that he was a werewolf. Why he chose that scenario, I don’t know.”

“I think I know,” Catherine said. “I managed to fake falling into trances during my sessions, so I overheard a detail about Karter’s past. As a teenager, he and a few friends offered their souls at a crossroads in exchange for wealth and success. It was a dumb lark they thought of as a joke. Yet, two things happened afterward: Karter’s app took off, and one of those friends died a horrible death.”

“Great. I’m not feeling any sympathy for that asshole,” Phinn grumbled.

“Phinn!” Jake admonished.

“Fine. At least that explains how he could fall for a con about being cursed,” Phinn realized.

“Wait, you weren’t hypnotized?” Portia asked Catherine.

“I’m sorry, everyone. I had some inkling about what Atwood was up to, but I couldn’t tell you until I finished gathering enough evidence to ensure he went to prison. I knew he’d been Errol Ladd, and wanted revenge,” Cat revealed.

“And he suspected you might be onto him, didn’t he?” Phinn inquired.

“Yes. He did.”

Preferring not to get too deep into the attempted murders, Phinn moved on with the discussion.

“At some point, the plan was for Grover Atwood to show up to help advance whatever shakedowns Glenn had in mind.”

“But what about me? I’m not rich. Was I only being used as a plaything?” Adora asked.

“I don’t think so. I believe that you and Hazel were being groomed as recruiters. I don’t have much basis for this idea, but it makes sense. Your film career might currently be in a valley, but as Jake and many others can vouch for, you have a certain charisma and appeal that still makes you a star. The next peak is coming soon, possibly with this movie you auditioned for,” Phinn explained. “I think the same may be true about Hazel. Perhaps he saw your switch to acting paying off, or he wanted to exploit your music industry connections.”

“We think Troy’s jealousy and insecurities were enhanced and directed toward driving off any people snooping around. That’s why he flew into a rage upon spotting Vince. Flamand transferred your hate of the paparazzi toward anyone prying into what’s going on at this property,” Jake added, causing Troy to scowl. It seemed the small-time actor didn’t believe a word of the teens’ explanations.

“Uh, what about me?” Benji inquired.

“Honestly, Biddle, I have no fucking clue,” Phinn admitted, chuckling.

“Am I programmed to kill somebody?”

“Oh, sorry, sorry! Flamand didn’t program anyone here to kill,” Phinn corrected hastily. “Selene’s the one who altered Hazel and Karter’s hypnosis, with Karter likely being the most extensive.”

“Oh, dear, oh my,” Yvonne said, sounding overwhelmed with everything.

“That’s a relief,” Adora announced, placing her hand over her heart.

“This is going to be a circus when it all gets out,” Portia proclaimed. “My family is going to be super pissed at me.”

“It’s going to be intense for a short time, but it will fade,” Cat reassured, placing her hand on the socialite’s arm soothingly. The fortysomething had plenty of experience with public scandals.

“But what happened? Why did everything go crazy and lead to murder attempts?” Benji asked.

“Greed for one. Diane/Selene knew that Grover Atwood wanted his brother to go for the short money. Swindle you people and get out quick. She also knew that Glenn cared more for the fawning adoration of young, gorgeous women,” Phinn recounted. “Catherine and I overheard some of this last night when Diane revealed that she’d killed Grover to his brother. She had observed, studied, and mimicked Glenn’s hypnosis technique. She planned to get rid of him and later on restart a grift similar to what they began here.”

“Our presence seems to have accelerated events,” Jake revealed. “Atwood had a newspaper article about us, so he knew we would likely meddle.”

“About you? What do you mean?” Adora asked.

“Who are you?” Troy challenged. “Reporters? I knew you were up to no good!”

“That’s enough, Troy. They’re friends of my nieces,” Yvonne replied, using a rarely displayed sharp tone.

Leighton drew the room’s attention with a deep, heavy sigh. Glancing at Jake and Phinn, she cut them off before they could speak with a minimal hand gesture.

“Aunt Vonnie, Paisley and I told a white lie when–”

“Don’t include me in this! I didn’t want to bring them here,” the pale blonde reminded.

“Fine! I told a white lie, and Pais let it slide without correction,” the redhead clarified, shooting her cousin a dirty look. “Jake and I never dated at camp. We did meet them there one year when they attended Camp Little Weasel with their other friend, Dusty. That was the same year with the excitement over the robbers and hidden loot.”

“Heavens to Betsy! That sounded dangerous,” Yvonne recalled.

"It was. You've met the Sasser sisters, Camryn and Cassidy. Well, they and their friends are detectives."

“Detectives? But they’re in high school!” the strawberry blonde replied, sounding incredulous.

“Well, the Sassers were juvenile detectives five years ago when Jake, Phinn, and Dusty attended camp. Their trio also happened to be investigators. Together, the two groups, not the local police, are the people who caught those robbers and found their buried loot. However, the camp owners didn’t appreciate Phinn’s tactics, so the three of them were banned from Little Weasel.”

“Whoa! We weren’t banned; we were just told never to return. It’s a big difference!” Jake insisted, catching Paisley’s eye roll.

“I…I don’t understand. I thought they were your friends,” Yvonne questioned, turning her confused face toward Paisley.

“Don’t look at me! I’m not friends with them!” the ice queen declared.

“That is the truth. We’ve upset Paisley and her friends on several occasions over the years with our cases,” Phinn confirmed. “We also didn’t care for Leighton while at camp, as she bullied our friend. However, it appears that they have made amends. Dusty is the person who recommended us to your niece when Leighton decided to seek help.”

“Seek help?”

“Yes, Aunt Vonnie. Despite somebody’s denials, we both found Flamand suspicious and wanted him investigated,” Leighton revealed, shocking her aunt further.

“We should’ve hired real detectives,” Paisley complained.

“I’m sorry, did we not stop Flamand and his scheme?” Phinn challenged.

“Please, no fighting!” Yvonne pleaded.

“Phinn’s a bit upset with Paisley because she said he was gay when we arrived,” Jake divulged.

“You’re not?!”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Ellison. Once your less friendly niece conjured up that lie, I felt it best not to draw too much attention to our presence,” Phinn apologized. He felt a little bad about the lie since Yvonne had seemed to feel they had a connection from the start.

“Hold on, you guys are like real private investigators?” Benji questioned, sounding awed.

“Bullshit! They’re just brats claiming to be,” Troy scoffed.

"Like your acting career?" Adora shot back, basically confirming their breakup.

“We are detectives!” Jake responded. “Flamand knew it too.”

“How?” Troy continued, flipping off his ex-girlfriend. “Are you psychic detectives?”

“The police found a copy of the Darlingport Post from two weeks ago that covered our previous case. It involved a reality show pretending to be a fake pirate’s treasure hunt,” Phinn replied stiffly.

“That was you?” Marie blurted out, suddenly speaking again. After nods confirmed their identities, the housekeeper turned toward her employer and friend. “They’re the boys who wore that diving suit!”

“Sweet Christmas!”

“Jake’s the one who wore the diving suit,” Phinn clarified, preferring that no one thought he wore costumes in their cases.

Troy stormed off after Yvonne jumped to her feet to hug and congratulate the teens on their past case and for helping her and her guests. The bubbly, kind-hearted woman grew tearful over her nieces’ actions and their concern for her well-being. Phinn and Jake turned down an offer of dinner as they both wanted to shower, or in Phinn’s case, soak his bruised body in a bath for hours. Vonnie quickly offered him the master suite on the second floor, since it stood empty.

“For now,” Leighton replied, sharing a look with Paisley. “We assume that our parents will show up in a few days to find out what the hell happened.”

“Kitty whiskers,” Yvonne whispered, covering her mouth in concern about her older siblings' reactions to Flamand and his scheme.

Paisley reluctantly and sullenly carried Phinn's bags to the master suite at her aunt's orders, after a hint from her cousin. After the ice queen dumped them on the king-sized bed, Phinn took off his clothes. Filling the tub with hot water, the teen checked out his black-and-blue body in the bathroom mirror. Mom is going to freak out when she sees these bruises. Still, she’s the one who insisted I help Leighton. I'd better not get in trouble again.

Ninety minutes later, Phinn woke in the cold tub. After draining the water, he grabbed a towel to wrap around his body. Entering the bedroom, he stopped in his tracks. He wasn’t alone.

“You didn’t tell them that I’m the person who tried to shoot Atwood,” Catherine said, rising from the armchair in the bedroom.

“No, I figured you had a solid reason,” Phinn responded, shrugging slightly. “We might meddle in crimes, but we don’t always seek full justice.”

“I only realized later that I told you and Leighton about Maureen Richardson. Fortunately, that didn’t come back to haunt me,” Catherine remarked, approaching the teen. “Glenn Atwood, using the name Errol Ladd, was the man who drove her to suicide.”

“I deduced as much when our friends listed his buddy’s part in that Hollywood scam.”

“Oh, you poor thing. He really worked you over, didn’t he? I tried to tell you to stop pestering him,” the golden blonde commented, tracing her fingertips over the purplish bruise forming on his left side. “Nothing is broken?”

“Bruised ribs. It hurts at times to move or breathe,” Phinn admitted.

“Oh, dear. I suppose my plan to reward you will have to wait. You’re in no shape for me,” the actress announced, shaking her head in disappointment. Her fingers toyed with the strap at the front of the wrap-around dress.

With his eyebrows slightly raised in surprise, Phinn opted to pass on the offer to his best friend. He’d done so in the past. This type of reward or thank-you never felt right to Phinn.

“Can’t do. Portia’s handling that thank you,” Catherine revealed. “You missed the funny moment at dinner, where she offered Benji her bed. He turned her down. It seems that this excitement sparked something between him and Hazel. Poor Portia seemed put out. I imagine she’s rarely turned down, just like me.”

Phinn’s gaze followed the loosening and tightening of the wrap dress’s belt. Unlike Jake, the brainy teen could control his hormones around beautiful women. So, under normal circumstances, he’d do the smart thing for his bruised and battered body by turning down the offer. However, this wasn’t a normal circumstance, nor was Catherine Dall a run-of-the-mill teenager at his high school. She was a legendary beauty of the silver screen with a figure known to mesmerize men. Even in her early forties, Phinn knew she still had it going on.

“If you promise to be gentle, I’ll take that reward,” he said, sounding far more confident about this moment than he felt. Despite his nervousness, Phinn knew how to fake confidence, so he dropped the towel to expose himself.

“Kid, I’m an expert at riding,” Catherine replied, opening her dress to reveal her impressive, age-defying pair of Double Ds. “When I mount a man, I break him. However, I can also take it slow and steady. So I’ll try not to hurt you.”

When the Sensationalist’s Triple Crown winner for Best Tits, Best Ass, and Most Fuckable dropped to her knees in front of him, Phinn suddenly didn’t mind getting his ass kicked to save her.