Chapter 12: Seeking Help

SPLASH

“Dammit, Allen! Be careful out there. I don’t need to wade into that muck to save your butt!” Sheriff Wheeler yelled at his clumsy deputy.

“Like he could go out there,” Phinn mumbled, earning a soft slap to the arm from Leighton.

Jake and Phinn had waited until early the next morning before asking Yvonne to call the sheriff. The strawberry blonde had immediately gasped when informed about the partially sunken car they’d found. The boys had agreed not to tell anyone when they arrived back late, as Phinn didn’t want to tip off any potential killer staying at the house. Consumed by the weird sighting on the road, Jake had brushed off the thought of a killer inside the same home.

Now, the teen detectives found themselves standing off the dirt road, still early on this bright morning. They watched as Deputy Allen accepted a hand from a burly tow truck driver. The two men had descended into the marsh water to attach a hook from the truck to pull the silver sedan out.

“This better not be another dumped junker again,” the sheriff complained. “Damn things are a waste of time.”

Phinn threw up his hand in frustration. Getting the sheriff to even check on the abandoned car had been an effort. If anything, the poorly aging man appeared worried he’d have another case to investigate. Wheeler had sighed with relief when the junior sleuths revealed they hadn’t found a body inside, including the trunk.

“Sheriff, it’s a fairly nice car and a recent rental,” Jake reminded.

“It hasn’t been in there long. At least, that’s what we thought,” Phinn added, trying exceptionally hard to stay polite.

“The kids appear right, Elmer,” Frank Noonan pointed out. “It looks like a relatively fresh dump.”

Jake did a double-take upon learning the sheriff's first name. Yvonne's closest neighbor had helped convince the sheriff to check out the car and provided the location based on the teens' description of the area.

“We thought a week or a little longer. Doesn’t that fit with the timeline for when that man was killed?” Phinn asked, hinting at the point he wanted the sheriff to realize.

“Hmm, could be,” the law enforcement official sounded, rubbing his potbelly as he pondered the development. Next, he spat out some tobacco juice. “It’s possible the vagrant theory might have been premature.”

“Oh, you think?” Phinn inquired sarcastically before Jake jabbed an elbow into his side to be quiet.

"I reckon this might be a body dumping from Darlingport. Used to be a common occurrence starting about, oh, say, a hundred years ago."

“But that stopped over twenty years ago, Elmer,” Frank pointed out.

“Might have, might not have,” Sheriff Wheeler said, watching as the submerged car slowly inched toward the shore. “You boys better not traipse around these woods anymore. Don’t need a third discovery or more. The department doesn’t need any of those darn cold cases piling up.”

Even Jake shot the lazy sheriff a dirty look after that comment. Unable to bite his tongue any longer, Phinn spun around to walk away. Leighton followed, with Jake staying behind to listen to Frank’s response before joining them.

“Simple-minded fool!” the brainy detective hissed. “That man is a stereotype of a hick sheriff. There’s probably a serial killer or boondocks gang having a field day out here.”

“Or a con artist,” Jake added, earning an approving finger point from his partner.

“Are you sure there isn’t anyone inside?” Leighton asked, glancing over her shoulder at where an issue had developed. They heard the tow truck driver claim it wasn’t a big deal while he waded out to adjust something.

“Positive. I checked the car and trunk,” Jake recounted. “The front windows were down, but I doubt anyone was alive to climb out of them.”

“You ever been out this way?” Phinn inquired.

“Sure. Not in a few years, but I'm familiar with this area. The road turns into a dead end further down, and there aren’t any wide trails. So, it’s somewhat pointless for riding Queenie this way,” the redhead explained.

“I’ll say. Even the trail we found was narrow. We’re all scratched and cut,” Jake grumbled.

“Do you recall a shack further down?”

“That thing has been here forever,” Leighton replied. “Old-timers used to fish the marshes. Not as many people do these days. You see some and a few hunters out infrequently.”

“They fish in there?!” Jake gasped, turning to gape at the murky water.

“Usually further away from shore.”

“The trail we took came out right near the shack,” Phinn explained.

“You guys were on that one? Yikes!”

“Precisely,” Phinn agreed with their client. “However, we found several interesting items. Somebody stashed a cooler with water and juice in there recently.”

“That’s not surprising. I know it has a history of use for weekend trips. Sometimes fishermen might set up a tent next to it,” Leighton recalled from her younger days.

“Agreed. Not a surprising find. An air rifle and night vision goggles seem more out of place,” Phineas noted.

“What? An air…Do you think–”

“Good chance,” Jake cut off, knowing precisely what Leighton thought.

“Should we tell the sheriff?” Leighton asked.

“Why? It’s not proof of anything yet. We’re better off leaving it there undisturbed. Lull the fiend into a false sense of comfort, you know,” Phinn clarified. “Besides, we’re keeping an actual, bigger piece of evidence from Elmer.”

“Yeah,” Jake said, sighing sadly as he reached into his pocket.

“Ohmigawd! Isn’t that AD’s necklace?”

“It looks like it. Probably the necklace she lost before her trip, not on it. Jake found it in the trunk of that car last night,” Phinn recounted. His partner nodded glumly.

“I can’t believe it. There is no way that AD is mixed up in a ****. No way!” the redhead insisted.

“It doesn’t implicate her or Troy at the moment. But if that body is Grover Atwood, then one of them–likely Adora—will be the prime suspect,” Phinn speculated.

“It looks bad. That’s why I really don’t want to hand it over, but if we don’t, we’re obstructing a potential **** investigation,” Jake explained. His face bore the internal struggle going on inside his head.

“Adora would never harm anyone. Troy might. But once word of this gets out, it’s going to be a media circus around here,” Leighton stated, sounding resigned to the situation.

“Of course it will. A down-on-her-luck Hollywood starlet, potentially implicated in a killing. It will turn into a frenzy, especially when reporters start questioning why she’s here and who she’s with,” Phinn agreed. “That’s why we aren’t handing the necklace over to Wheeler.”

“Wha–But…Phinn!” Jake sputtered.

“Don’t look shocked. You had to have known after I didn’t hand it over first thing when Wheeler arrived.”

“I thought you wanted to wait for a dramatic moment!” Jake hissed, checking to see if the sheriff had heard. “If this turns into ****, we’re guilty of obstruction for sure.”

“There is no for sure. Hasn’t your mother taught you anything?” the bespectacled sleuth challenged his best friend. “Besides, when haven’t we obstructed an investigation? We do it all the time.”

“Well…I mean…we…good reasons…I guess that’s true,” Jake slowly came around to admit. “But we’re not dealing with the EPD this time.”

“Even better. This hick doesn’t know to suspect us of withholding information or evidence,” Phinn said, gesturing toward the sheriff.

“I don’t know. What if he catches on? We might not be able to talk our way out of this.”

Leighton’s attention swung back and forth between the duo.

“Relax. If it turns into a mess, I’ll take the blame. They won’t know you had anything to do with it,” Phinn reassured as a compromise.

“I guess that could…No! I’m the guy who found it. I’ll take the blame,” Jake insisted.

“Well, if you want,” Phinn said, throwing his hands out in defeat. Although he’d never let his best friend take the fall solely.

“You can’t be serious!” the redhead repeated, but for different reasons. “I didn’t bring you down here to meddle in a ****.”

“Whoa! We don’t know if it’s a **** yet. No need to jump to conclusions,” Phinn responded.

“Right,” Jake added.

“Arrgh! I should let Paisley deal with you two.”

“Actually, we do need to talk about something,” Phinn began delicately. “We need to tell you how we came to see that guy in the woods.”

“I thought you followed my aunt and JP?”

“We did.”

Phinn proceeded to recount a watered-down version of the events they witnessed at the gazebo. He didn’t want to alarm or disturb their client further by going into the finer details of Yvonne’s behavior and Flamand’s attitude. He mainly focused on the locations of the gems and crystals and on the tone used by the so-called spiritual advisor.

Uncomfortable with where the account was headed, Jake slipped away to check on the towing. Phinn mentally cursed his partner for leaving him, but understood the reason. Eventually, he finished the story, which left Leighton confused.

“Okay, so what’s the big deal?”

Sighing, Phinn dipped his toe into the dangerous waters. “There was a tension between them. I wouldn’t call it romantic, but it…”

“Sexual?” the concerned niece questioned with an alarmed expression.

“Honestly, it felt creepy and troubling. The fellowship may have some cultish leanings.”

“Oh, no.”

“Look, I wouldn’t worry about…Oh, hell, Jake!” Phinn’s effort to be comforting ended when he caught sight of Jake and Frank engaged in a heated and boisterous conversation. Immediately, he knew the reason.

“What’s wrong?” the redhead asked.

“Jake went and did something dumb,” Phinn declared.

The less superstitious half of the teen detectives opted not to join the conversation. Instead, he and Leighton watched as Frank grabbed Jake by the elbow to lead him further away from Sheriff Wheeler. They could overhear Frank's orders not to tell anyone and not to do anything stupid.

“You’ve been warned. Don’t get yourself hurt!” Frank hissed before marching off in the direction of the main road.

Despite the glare he saw and felt, Jake walked over toward his partner. Leighton held a confused expression about the disagreement with her usually friendly neighbor. All she could think of was that Jake had said something about Frank almost shooting him a few nights ago.

“You just had to go and say something, didn’t you?” Phinn challenged.

“Yes, I did! He’s the only other person who we know knows about it,” Jake pointed out.

“Jake, you can’t run off and tell people stuff like that. They’re going to think you’re crazy. It hurts our credibility,” Phinn admonished his best friend.

“Mr. Noonan doesn’t think we’re crazy. Not only did his behavior tip us off, but he’s seen it too!”

“Oh, hell. At least your arguing means you’re not joining up with him. You aren’t, right?” Phinn questioned.

“No, he thinks we’re kids in over our heads.”

“Oh, wait. I know, this is about Jake’s werewolf theory,” Leighton realized.

“Yes.”

“No! It’s about more,” Jake insisted. “It’s about what we saw–”

BLAM

“Get down!” Jake exclaimed.

“What the hell?” Phinn questioned, still standing as he turned toward the tow truck.

“Allen!”

“Whoops. Sorry, Sheriff,” Deputy Allen apologized, leaning down to pick up his firearm. “It got wet and slipped out of–”

“You wore your holster out there?” the angry sheriff challenged, gesturing toward the marsh water. “Why didn’t you take it off before?”

“I…I, uh, didn’t think about it.”

Jake and Phinn exchanged a look before Phinn suggested they leave.

“We’d better head back. I don’t want to get accidentally shot by Deputy Klutz.”

“Agreed,” Leighton nodded.

She waited until they’d walked for about ten minutes before asking about Jake's disagreement with Frank. Phinn grimaced but didn’t stop his friend.

“We saw it! Last night, we saw the werewolf!”

“What now?”

“On the way back to your place, we saw it hop onto the road, stand up, and hop back down the same trail we found the body.”

“I’m sorry. Did you say you saw a real werewolf?” Leighton double-checked in disbelief.

“Yes!”

“No, we don’t know what we saw,” Phinn stated.

“Yes, we do! We saw a werewolf. It looked like a half-man, half-beast,” Jake proclaimed.

“For all we know, we saw a dirty, scruffy guy who fried his brain with meth,” Phinn argued.

“That was not a man on ****. It wasn’t even a normal man. Don’t live in denial!”

“You know, meth is a problem in this region,” Leighton pointed out.

“And I can’t wait to get home and away from this place,” Phinn remarked.

SLAP

“The hell?” Phinn responded to Jake slapping his forehead. He and Leighton shared a brief look of concern about the paranoid athlete.

“Back home. We were supposed to check in yesterday.”

“Oh, right,” Phinn realized before shrugging dismissively. Unlike his friend, he didn’t care about those tidbits during an investigation.

“We should call as soon as we get back. That way, we don’t get distracted and forget again,” Jake said, more to himself than anyone.

Once they reached the main road, they got into Yvonne’s car, which they’d borrowed. Only then did Phinn reveal what he’d been thinking about after Jake recalled they needed to call their parents.

“We need to learn more about this Grover Atwood. It’s also time for a further look into Jean-Paul. And without internet or a cell signal, our hands are tied. So, I think we need to make another call.”

“To where?”

“We need somebody to do our research, and we know a person we trust fully,” Phinn said, causing Jake to grin and Leighton to ask who. “Dusty.”

---

Returning to the Ellison estate, the pair of investigators found themselves momentarily sidetracked with questions. Leighton preferred to defer any information disclosure to the guys. A quick decision led Phinn to suggest she call everyone into the sitting room so they could get it over with in one fell swoop. Once the room had filled, Phinn and Jake put on a minor act of clueless teens repeating what they heard from the sheriff.

“What kind of a car?” Troy asked, which fit his personality as he’d mentioned previously that he liked nice vehicles.

“I don’t know. I’m not a car guy,” Phinn responded with an aw-shucks attitude. “It was gray or silver. I’d say gray. What do you think?”

“It was hard to tell with all the mud on it. Probably silver,” Jake replied.

"It's probably a piece of crap. People do that around here," Karter stated dismissively.

Jake and Phinn fought the urge to share a look. How did an out-of-towner know what happened around this small town and county?

“How horrible! I hope we don’t know the owner,” Marie fretted, sharing a glance with an equally concerned Yvonne.

“Oh, that’s right. I think the sheriff mentioned they found a rental agreement.”

“He did!” Jake exclaimed, sounding as if he just remembered that vital fact.

“Kitty whiskers!” their hostess cried in a hushed voice. “How would someone passing through end up all the way down there?”

“Right! The sheriff did have a guess about that. He thinks the car was dumped in the last week or two,” Phinn relayed, trailing off so that Jake could carry on.

“That’s around the same possible time period when that man might have been killed. Sheriff Wheeler thinks the abandoned car and the body might be connected.”

“Leaping lizards!”

“The sheriff really thinks that?” Paisley challenged, forgetting momentarily that her two annoyances were on her side this time.

Leighton shot her cousin a look that screamed to shut up, but the sleuths didn’t react. Instead, they turned to where Adora and Troy spoke softly, and Portia joined them. Finally, the latter asked if the sheriff had learned anything more about the body.

“He said he couldn’t divulge any details of a pending investigation,” Phinn lied. “However, he might stop here to see if anyone had heard of the man.”

“They’ve identified the remains?” Jean-Paul queried, finally speaking.

“I’m sorry. I meant the name of the person who rented the car. Has anyone ever heard of a Grover Atwood?” the bespectacled sleuth asked, knowing Jake would be ready to watch the reactions on his side of the room.

Phinn almost didn’t see any reaction from the people nearest him until he caught the tiniest eye flicker from Flamand toward Selene. It might not be anything, but the teen still added it to his internal notebook.

“Oh, dear. That poor soul’s name will be all over town by sundown,” Yvonne declared.

“We should ask around, Vonnie. Maybe he has kin around here,” Marie suggested.

The two women immediately discussed what food they should make in case they needed to comfort a friend or acquaintance. Phinn nudged Jake to leave the sitting room as the impromptu meeting came to a close. However, Yvonne briefly stopped them with a happier announcement.

“Catherine should be discharged from the hospital after lunch. Let’s give her a grand welcome back,” the strawberry blonde suggested. “Marie’s already preparing her favorite meal.”

“Didn't you guys need to call your parents?” Leighton asked, making sure everyone overheard.

“We forgot to check in yesterday,” Jake admitted, his sheepishness almost as real as it came across.

Once inside the den with the door closed, Phinn leaned in close to whisper the minor reaction he may have caught from Flamand. A wordless question about anything Jake saw brought a shake of the head.

“Hey, Libby, what’s going on?” Jake asked once his older sister answered the phone. He quickly learned the regular things happening back home. His dad was at his sports bar while their mom had a new high-profile client.

“Ask how Bandit is?” Phinn directed.

His concern over the bulldog eventually led him to get on the phone to say hello to the Magnum family pet while Libby held the phone down to the dog. Jake shook his head as he heard a string of barks in reply.

“I’d swear he’s your dog if he didn’t love my mom the most,” Jake complained.

“You could’ve said hello to him,” Phinn admonished, dialing his house number. “Maybe a little more attention would pull you ahead of your sister.”

“It’s hard to hear anything with all that static and clicking,” Jake remarked.

"Don't forget the echo," Phinn replied before smiling at the person who had picked up the phone. "Hi, Dad! Just checking in. Is Mom around? Oh, she's not. That's too bad. Well, tell her I called. Someone did? Oh, her."

Jake didn’t notice Phineas rolling his eyes as he had suddenly gone deep into his internal thoughts.

“No, I did not screw her over. And you can tell Mom that. Yeah, yeah. She can wait until we return. Fine, bye,” Phinn said, hanging up. “I had a visitor yesterday. Johanna finally gave up on messaging and calling us. Damn, I’m dreading how many we missed. Well, she had a long chat with my mom once she freaked out upon hearing that we left town. Complaining about how we used her and haven’t delivered on a full-length interview and your date. This is your fault. You had to let Isla cover your meet-and-greet. I guess we’d better schedule something once we return, or my mom is going to drive me nuts with her nagging.”

“Uh-huh,” Jake nodded, still distracted.

“Check the library. I don’t want to call Dusty if anyone is lingering outside the door,” Phinn directed, picking up the phone again.

His brown eyes widened as Jake suddenly jumped forward, leaning his body over the desk to grab the phone from his partner’s hand to hang it up. Before Phinn could say anything, Jake placed his finger to his lips. Understanding, Phinn nodded and followed Jake as he led them into the library and out the front door.

“Do you remember The Unreal Alibi Affair?” Jake queried once they’d reached the fountain.

“Of course,” the brainy sleuth replied about an old case from three and a half years ago.

“Do you recall the big complication?”

“Shit!” Phinn exclaimed, turning to check the house before continuing. “The phone!”

“I thought the clicking, static, and echoes seemed familiar. I bet the phone is tapped.”

“Fuck. Good catch,” Phinn praised his partner. “I should’ve noticed and thought of that. It makes sense.”

“It does?”

“Leighton and Paisley were pissed when we arrived and found out that Flamand had removed all the phones except the one in the den. He wanted to control communications coming and going from here,” Phinn deduced. “The question is why there is a need for control.”

“Beats me. This does mean we can’t call Dusty from here.”

“No, we’ll need to drive back far enough to get a cell signal,” Phinn pointed out, leading the gumshoes to walk into the house again.

They eventually found the cousins in the kitchen with their aunt and Marie.

“No!”

“My goodness! You shouldn’t be so negative, Pais. Not to anyone,” Yvonne lectured in a soft-spoken way. “I think a trip to check out Lumlow sounds delightful. You can use my car.”

“I can drive you,” Leighton offered, shaking her head at her cranky cousin.

“Thanks…However, I think some exercise sounds like a great idea,” Phinn replied, changing his response after he’d begun. The other three teens in the kitchen stared at him in surprise.

“I think it sounds like a swell idea!” Vonnie praised cheerily.

“Uh, yeah,” Jake said, picking up on Phinn’s change of plans. “Um, I noticed a few bicycles in the garage. Can we use–”

“Absolutely!”

“I can help you get them,” Leighton said after Phinn’s head gesture in her direction. She told them to wait a moment for her outside.

Exiting through the door closest to the kitchen, they headed toward the garage’s side door after Leighton reappeared. While on the grass and in the open, Phinn explained his new idea.

“I want you or your cousin to stay near your aunt at all times. Don’t allow her to leave or be alone with Flamand.”

“Sure, we can do that.”

"Actually, hold on," Phinn said outside the garage door. "Find a way for one of you to go with Yvonne to help get Catherine. I know Hazel has her car there, but think of a–"

“Won’t be a problem. Vonnie will love the idea. Plus, Hazel and Benji would likely get lost trying to bring Cat back. Here,” the redhead said, handing over a pile of quarters to Jake. “Calling from the payphone at the gas station will be quicker.”

“We get to use an actual phone booth? Fantastic!” Jake cheered.

---

"Calm down. It's not a time machine," Phinn groused as Jake blocked him so that he could get inside the phone booth.

After peddling under the bright, hot sun, the less athletic detective wasn’t in one of his better moods. For once, he’d insisted they grab something cold to drink and eat before finishing their chore. Jake had already downed his drink and ice cream sandwich while his partner savored his Popsicle.

“It kind of is a time machine,” Jake argued, digging the quarters out of his pocket to line them up on the narrow shelf like he’d seen done in old movies and shows. “Too bad this doesn’t take dimes.”

“I’m sure it does, but we’d be dropping a lot of them inside,” Phinn noted. He held up his phone with his contact list. While he knew their other partner’s changed number by memory, Jake didn’t. “Hopefully, Dusty answers.”

His concern proved well-founded as the call to the cell phone went straight to voicemail. Phinn held up his phone again, suggesting they call the house. Jake did so, nearly giving up before a familiar person answered late into the ringing.

"Oh, hi, Mrs. Pinder. This is Jake, Jake Magnum. Well, I didn't know if you'd recognize my voice," he added with a grin that she did.

“Jake!” Phinn hissed, catching the faux pas his best friend made about the reason their former partner moved away.

“What? Hold on, ma’am.”

“The divorce!”

“Crap! What should I call her?”

“It’s too late now. Continue,” Phinn directed.

“Yeah, that’s Phinn. She says hi. We’re on a case and need…Oh, gone for another three days. Yeah, that’s okay. We’ll be fine. Thanks again…Nice to talk to you too,” Jake said as a goodbye.

“I heard.”

“Dusty and a couple of friends are off covering a story for their school newspaper,” Jake passed along.

“Story? Please. Jake, it’s summer break. Dusty’s off on a case.”

“Oh, shit! Wait, that means…a new team!” Jake exclaimed, sounding offended and hurt.

“Not necessarily,” Phinn responded, aware of their ex-partner’s junior journalism adventures, which sometimes led to cases.

“Great. What are we going to do now?”

Phinn pondered his friend’s question for a moment. Then, he scrolled down on his phone slightly before holding it up.

“You want to call the Sassy Girls? Alright. Which one?” Jake asked, seeing three numbers listed for the Sasser sisters.

“Call their houseline first this time,” Phinn directed.

This time, their call got answered on the second ring.

“Hello, Mrs. Sasser! This is Jake Magnum. I don’t know if you remember…What? No, we’re not in trouble. Nor do we need to be bailed out of jail. What have your daughters told you about us? Oh, right.” Jake held his hand over the receiver. “She’s joking.”

“I figured,” Phinn replied, recalling the fun-loving mother from the few times they visited their counterparts.

“Are Camryn and Cassidy home? They are! Great. Uh, I don’t know which one–”

“We want Camryn,” Phinn supplied, preferring the older sister for their request.

“You did? Well, I guess adorable is a way to describe how I looked,” Jake replied, holding his hand over the receiver while she screamed for Camryn. “Their mom saw my picture from our last case.”

“I assumed as much. What other pictures have you taken in the last few months?”

They waited while Mrs. Sasser yelled for her daughter again…and waited. Picturing the home, Phinn easily imagined the yelling woman walking up the stairs to find her daughter, which was precisely what had occurred.

“Hey, Cammie! It’s Jake…No, we’re not in trouble. Geesh!” Jake complained as Phinn smirked. “Yeah, we do need help. We’re stuck in the middle of nowhere.”

“She knows where we are,” Phinn pointed out.

“That’s right! We are helping Leighton. Oh, right. You talked to her before she asked us,” Jake nodded while recalling what he’d been told. “Right. No internet out here. But hey, guess what! I’m inside an old-fashioned phone booth. Yep, it even has a door that you pull shut. No, it’s not. Phinn’s standing inside it. Hang on, I need to add more quarters.”

Phinn waited impatiently while Jake caught up with their counterpart.

“Our case was wild. The nutjob tried to create a reality show. What? Yep, Phinn shot a guy in the graveyard. No, it wasn’t our gun. Although he also tased the main culprit with a borrowed stun gun. Come to think of it, Kuhn did fall into the grave. No, he survived, but he’s a stickup artist with a bad reputation. Totally the kind who seek ****. Well, you know him; anytime he leaves the house, he thinks he’s in danger. Yeah, one of the main crooks did slip through our fingers, but that happens–Hey!”

“Give me that damn phone!” Phinn ordered.

The two fought over the phone for nearly thirty seconds before Phinn won because the operator demanded more money. After depositing the coins, the bespectacled detective took over to immediately defend his reputation.

“First, I do not leave the house paranoid every time. I’m merely wary and aware of my surroundings. Second, it’s not our fault that the one partner escaped. You can blame the fucking Factfinders for that screwup.

“No! They showed up for the treasure hunt?” Camryn asked.

“They sure did! Damn goody-goodies snitched on us to the hotel security. Radley even dragged me off the suspect, allowing her to get on the elevator.”

The gorgeous girl roared with laughter that Jake and Phinn found attractive.

“Are they still in Edgewater?”

“Who knows? They better not meddle again. They went from an annoyance to the top of our shit list. Although Jake’s still willing to give Sophia another chance.”

"Like that's a shock," Camryn replied before informing her sister about the identity of the people on the phone. "So, what's going on there? Are you helping Leighton's aunt?"

"We think so. This place sucks. We're in the middle of nowhere, dealing with intense heat and humidity. We discovered a dead body even before we reached Leighton's place. And the person we're investigating appears to be a wannabe cult leader. The group is filled with celebrities struggling to make comebacks."

Now, on their speakerphone, Phinn listed off the guests. Camryn whistled while Cassidy giggled and asked if Jake had gone starry-eyed around the actresses.

“What do you think? He’s gone gaga over them, especially Dream Lass.”

“Whoa! I have not done so,” Jake argued until Phinn shot him a knowing expression.

“Even worse, he thinks we saw a werewolf last night.”

“Phinn! Don’t tell them that!”

“Why not? You’re telling others.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want the girls to think I’m crazy.”

“Don’t worry, Jakey! We know you!” Cassidy yelled, laughing.

"Remember that time you visited, and we went to the beach?" Camryn asked, loud enough for Jake to overhear.

“That’s not fair! It was only the third time I ever got drunk,” the stocky detective defended himself. “That's why I saw that thing.”

Phinn deposited enough quarters to start worrying that they wouldn't last much longer.

“Look, we need a favor.”

“Another favor? Wow, how many is this now?” Camryn asked in a tone that fit their group’s name.

“Fine. We owe you a lot of favors,” Phinn admitted. “However, there is no internet or cell service where we’re staying.”

“You also don’t get along with any other groups to ask for their help,” Cassidy added.

“There is also that. We need you to look into or ask around about a Jean-Paul Flamand and a Grover Atwood. The first is the potential con artist or cult leader. The second is the possible **** victim we found. We came across a rental car last night with his name listed on it. Flamand also has an assistant who goes only by Selene.”

Camryn repeated the names and physical descriptions while her sister wrote them down. Cassidy announced that she’d call Pearl, their close friend and fellow Sassy Girl.

“This might take a night or two. We’ll call around to the other groups to see if they ever heard of these people while Pearl does her search thing,” Camryn explained.

“That’s fine. We’ll have to call back from this payphone. What times are good?”

“Doesn’t their house have a phone?” Cassidy asked.

"It does, but it might be tapped," Phinn revealed as he added their final quarters.

“What?!” two sisters exclaimed.