Cottage on Gooseberry Bay: Charmed Summer Kathi Daley (the chimp paradox .TXT) 📖

has all those overhead lights, and he had to ferry his way right past them to make his way to his assigned slip.”

“Okay, so if that’s true, then all three boys were still alive and together after Kalen had been missing a full day and Zane had left home with his paddleboard,” I said. “I wonder what they were doing.”

Josie shrugged. “I don’t know. Prentice didn’t know, and neither did her contact. He just told her that he’d seen the three boys, but that was the extent of it.”

“Hopefully, Parker will know more by the time she gets back,” Jemma said.

“Where is Parker?” Josie asked.

“She went to look into a few things and to grab dinner for us. She should be here in an hour or so.”

“I’m starving,” Josie said. “I think I’ll grab a snack.”

“I made a cheese and fruit tray,” I shared.

“I was thinking something more filling. Maybe a few crackers to go with the cheese.”

I joined Josie in the kitchen while Jemma continued to work on the laptop. Once Parker arrived with the food, we focused on the meal. It was after we’d eaten when I asked Parker what she’d been able to find out.

“I was able to confirm that Kalen is definitely Raith and Trevor is definitely Hadron. I can also confirm that Zane is Trident and that all the boys had been logging a serious amount of hours before their disappearance. I also confirmed that the three boys had only been working together for the past five or six weeks.”

“And no one you spoke to knew what sort of tasks the boys were facing in the game once they began their final quest?” I asked.

“No, no one I spoke to knew that,” Parker confirmed.

“I’ll poke around and see what I can find,” Jemma offered. “Maybe I can strike up a conversation with one of the other players who have surpassed level fourteen. I do have Zane’s video game console. It wouldn’t be all that hard to slip my way in. The trick will be to find something out before anyone realizes that I’m not actually Zane.”

“I’ll ask around,” Josie said. “Maybe we can figure out who Reaper, Zork, Halo, and Nomad are. If they were signed up for the ranking system, then chances are they’re local.”

Parker jumped in. “Oh, I meant to tell you that I spoke to Kalen’s mother, and she’s going to bring his video game console by the Rambling Rose tomorrow.” She looked at Josie. “You mentioned that you’d be working, so I figured that was easiest.”

“I’ll watch for her,” she said.

“I haven’t gotten ahold of either of Trevor’s parents yet,” Parker added. “I’ll keep trying. Other than that, we just keep doing what we do. We talk to people, and we look for clues.”

“I’m volunteering at the kiddie carnival tomorrow,” I said.

“Me too,” Jemma joined in.

“And Josie and I are working,” Parker said. “How about we all meet up here again tomorrow evening.”

Everyone confirmed that would work and we agreed to meet at five o’clock. Perhaps we’d get a break between now and then. The idea that the boys were out there, waiting to be rescued was one I couldn’t get out of my head, although given the fact that the boys were all seen together on Sunday after Zane left home also had me considering the fact that the three boys had simply taken off for some reason and were actually okay.

Chapter 12

Jemma and I decided to ride to the kiddie carnival in the park together the following day. The event was set to open at nine and run until two. There were carnival-type games such as a ring toss, a dart game, and a basketball toss, plus there were food vendors selling a variety of items that could be enjoyed on one of the long tables that had been set up. The event was a fundraiser for the elementary school, so it was mostly kids in the five to twelve age range that swarmed the area.

“Oh, good, you’re both here on time,” Hope said when Jemma and I approached the table that had been set up for the volunteers.

“We’re here and ready to work,” Jemma confirmed. “Where do you want me?”

“The ring toss. You did it last year, so you know what to do.” Hope then looked at me. “I thought I’d have you work the ticket booth with Darla. She can explain the pricing options.”

“Okay.” I looked around. “It looks like the tickets are being sold at that table near the park entrance.”

Hope nodded. “If you have any questions, just ask Darla. The line is manageable right now, but it’s going to get busy once the lunch hour approaches.”

Hope was right. It did get busier as the morning wore on. Thankfully, ticket sales was an easy gig and didn’t involve refereeing like some of the games, where determining whether someone won or not was often nothing more than a judgment call.

“So, is this your first year helping with this event?” Darla asked after I’d introduced myself to her.

“It is. I just moved to Gooseberry Bay in the fall.”

“So how are you liking it?” she asked as she counted out twenty tickets for a woman with two young children.

“I love it. Everyone has been so nice, and the area is simply gorgeous.”

Darla handed the woman her tickets and then began counting out tickets for the next customer. “Are you working locally?”

“Actually, I recently opened my own private investigation firm.”

“Of course. I’ve seen that across the boardwalk. You’re next to Then and Again. I love poking around in there.” She handed the woman her tickets and then smiled at the next customer in line. “I imagine being a PI is interesting.”

“It can be,” I said as a second line began to