0aeaa1e36e6f2e625b6ba8d48f773062

And just as she was about to walk out of the house, her dad came walking in, his hands laden with bags of groceries, followed by Odelia’s mom, likewise occupied.

“I’m sorry, honey,” said Mom. “Did you want us to get something for you?”

“No, we’re fine,” said Odelia, who’d forgotten it was grocery run day. In spite of her uncle having gone missing, life still went on, of course, and people still had to eat.

“What’s with this Madame Solange thing?” she asked as she idly checked the bags. She’d skipped dinner, as the emergency meeting with Charlene had run late, and then she hadn’t felt like eating and neither had Chase.

“Oh, just something I picked up at the supermarket,” said her mother, waving a dismissive hand.

“So did you call the number?” she asked.

“Mh? Oh, no, of course not. You know I don’t believe in that kind of stuff, honey. And neither does your father.”

“What stuff?” asked her dad, breezing into the kitchen again.

“Fortune telling stuff,” said Mom with a careless laugh that sounded a little forced.

“Baloney,” said her dad sternly. “Every last one of those people should be sued for taking advantage of the naivety of their victims.”

“I wouldn’t go as far as that,” protested her mother as she put the groceries in the fridge, while Dad offered the same courtesy to the pantry. “I’ll bet some of them are the real deal—the genuine article. Though I still have to meet the first one who can actually predict the future,”she hurriedly added.

“So this Solange, where can I find her?” asked Odelia, her mom’s behavior making her curious to find out more. It was the reporter in her. She could never leave well enough alone.

Mom swallowed.“I’m not sure. I don’t think she’s from around here.”

“I thought you said you hadn’t called her?”

“Oh, but I didn’t! I would never spend money on that sort of thing.”

“So how do you know she’s not from around here?”

Her mom shrugged.“Just a wild guess. If she were from around here, we’d have heard of her by now, don’t you think? Or you would have written an article about her.”

“Maybe I will,” said Odelia, and studied her mother’s reaction carefully.

Mom didn’t disappoint her. She looked up in alarm. “You’re going to talk to her?”

“I might,” said Odelia, now absolutely sure her mom was hiding something, which made her want to pursue the matter even more. “I’ll bet there’s a great story there.”

“Oh, no!” said her mother quickly. “I’m sure nobody wants to read about fortune tellers. That kind of thing is so pass?.”

“I’ll bet she’s down at the fair,” said her dad now.

“There’s a fair in town?” asked Odelia.

“Oh, sure. They’ve been setting up for the past couple of days. I think they’ll do a big parade through town any day now, though I’m afraid carnivals and fairgrounds and circuses are becoming a thing of the past. People aren’t into that kind of thing anymore nowadays. They prefer their entertainment more… hip and cool.” He grinned at his daughter as he said it, indicating he was anything but hip or cool.

“Look, who cares about this fair, or Madame Solange?” said Mom, taking a seat at the kitchen table. “What are we going to do about my brother? What do you propose?”

“Chase is working on it,” said Odelia, sobering. “He’s looking through a list of the people Uncle Alec put behind bars and who recently were released, as you suggested.”

“So the police are going to handle it? Even though these kidnappers specifically warned Charlene not to get them involved?”

“Chase is not working the case as a cop. He’s working it as a member of this family,” said Odelia. “Though frankly I think we actually should involve the police. I think that’s what Uncle Alec would want.”

“I hope they don’t hurt him,” said Mom. “And why did they make Charlene announce their wedding? That just doesn’t make any sense.”

“I’ll bet it’s some kind of psychological thing,” said Dad as he leaned against the kitchen wall, looking pensive. “Psychological warfare. To make Charlene crack.”

“How is announcing her wedding going to make Charlene crack?” asked Mom pointedly.

“I don’t know,” said her dad with a shrug. “But it smells a lot like psychological warfare to me.” And he disappeared into the living room.

“Oh, your father with his nonsense explanations,” said Mom. “I didn’t even want to go shopping. How can we pretend life is normal when my brother is somewhere out there, suffering who knows what kinds of torments?” Tears had formed in her eyes, and Odelia took her mother’s hands and gave them a reassuring squeeze.

“We’ll find him, Mom,” she said. “Chase is the best at what he does, and I’m not too shabby either.”

“And what happened to our cats?” asked Mom. “I haven’t seen them anywhere—I just hope they haven’t been taken, too.”

Chapter 13

“So, um, you guys?” said Charlene.