"So answer my question," Patrick barked when Kenzie said nothing, too stunned to speak. "What are you two doing here?"
Kenzie took this initiative to stand up straight and declare, "For your information, I'm a detective. Perhaps you've heard of me. I'm in the papers quite a bit and I'm considered one of the best detectives around."
"Nope, never heard of you," Patrick said as he smugly scratched his chin.
Kenzie was fuming. She couldn't recall the last time she'd been so angry. She had such a strong urge to slap this jerk right across his llama-licking face. Her fists were balled up at her sides and her face felt hot. If Jillian hadn't stepped in right at that moment, she would have pounced him in an all-out brawl.
"All right, knock it off," she said, once again stepping between the two obvious nemeses. "We were just leaving, Patrick."
"Good. And don't come back. If Ms. Catraz wanted you, so called detective, she would have hired you. But she knows a good investigator when she sees them."
"She needs her eyes checked then," Kenzie hissed as Jillian tugged on Kenzie's sleeve and Clara escorted them both outside.
"I hate that guy!" Kenzie declared once the door had shut behind them.
"I don't blame you," Jillian replied. "I'm glad I told him off when I did. He's a creep."
"Creep is an understatement. And he's a PI, for crying out loud! If you two got involved, well, talk about sleeping with the enemy!"
Jillian laughed at this remark, while feigning agitation that her best friend implied that she'd randomly woohoo with Patrick.
Kenzie consulted her watch and saw that it was already late afternoon.
"We should get another spa treatment," Jillian suggested when Kenzie mentioned this. "You could use some unwinding."
"Thanks, but I think I'd rather go back to the house. I'll see if Logan's online."
"Oh yeah, he's going to study to be a PI, isn't he?"
"Exactly. I can just imagine what he'll have to say about that guy."
Kenzie jabbed a thumb back toward Alley's house before the two headed out, though not before seeing Patrick's motorcycle parked outside Alley's gate, and Kenzie having a slight urge to somehow wreck it or at least spray graffiti on it (if she had any spray paint with her).
On the way back to the house, they stopped at the grocery store to pick up some things to eat. It was expensive eating at restaurants all the time.
Everything looked pretty fresh, so the two grabbed some vegetables, fruit, and meat. When they got back to the house, Jillian offered to cook while Kenzie went to chat with Logan.
WolfKen: Logan, are you there?
TheHawk: Yeah, what's up?
WolfKen: I have so much to tell you, and you'll never believe it!
TheHawk: That's what you said the last time, and then you told me you met a celebrity.
WolfKen: I didn't just meet her, I found out she's getting threatening letters!
TheHawk: Oh great. Another psychopath trying to scare a celeb up. What's wrong with people?
WolfKen: Logan, there's more. Remember how I told you that Jill and I found the Fountain of Youth, and we saw Alley drinking from it and wishing to be young forever? That majorly backfired. We saw her today because I wanted to see if I could help with those letters, and she looks twice her age!
TheHawk: Say what?
WolfKen: Yeah, she's got wrinkles, gray hair, the works. And she just used that fountain last night. And she isn't lying about her age because if she's that obsessed with her looks, why wouldn't she use makeup to cover them up all the time, not just in the movies or when she goes out in public?
TheHawk: Maybe she's that lazy. Or she probably has a makeup artist that she calls for when she's going out.
WolfKen: No way. She was expecting company today and she looked like that. Something's going on. She thinks those people who live here with the green-tinted skin put some sort of curse on the fountain because apparently they do magic.
TheHawk: But you don't think so.
WolfKen: I don't know, it's pretty magical how Alley used a fountain meant to make people younger and actually got older instead, at least on the outside.
TheHawk: She was expecting you? You said she was expecting company.
WolfKen: That's the worst news. Did I tell you about that jerk Jill and I ran into at the pool?
TheHawk: Not that I remember, just that you met a guy who told you about the club where you met Alley.
WolfKen: Well, this guy just started flirting with Jillian, which isn't a surprise, but whatever. The guy's a huge jerk, and he gives me the creeps. We both told him off, but it turns out he's the company Alley was expecting. He's a PI, and she hired him.
TheHawk: Aww, that sucks. Talk about bad luck.
WolfKen: Tell me about it. I'm so mad, I almost kicked his stupid motorcycle over.
TheHawk: Ooo, pent-up rage. Hot.
WolfKen: Logan...
TheHawk: Sorry. Anyway, a PI? Man, I wish I already had my training for that so I could show him up. At least I can go there and kick his butt if you want me to.
WolfKen: Thanks, but I've got a better idea. I have to get a look at those letters Alley got, but there's no way she'll let me see them, and Mr. PI Patrick sure won't.
TheHawk: This is a celebrity, so the case is high-profile. You should hack the database or something. Anything that important would be stored there, right?
WolfKen: Of course! Why didn't I think of that?! Probably because I was too mad.
TheHawk: No problem. I want to know what you find out, but be careful that they can't track you hacking.
WolfKen: I'm a computer whiz. This will be a piece of cake. But speaking of cake, Jill's cooking supper and she's probably almost done with it. So I better go for now.
TheHawk: Okay, be careful! Talk to you later!
WolfKen: Bye!
Kenzie closed her laptop and headed out to the kitchen, just in time to see Jillian setting grilled salmon on the table.
"I'm on another fish kick," she said as she set a plate down. "That's what I get for loving the beach and then living next to it."
Kenzie laughed and took a seat across from her friend as the two dug in.
"What did Logan have to say?" Jillian asked.
"He volunteered to kick Patrick's butt, but he did give me a great suggestion. I should hack the PI database!"
"Uh...won't you get caught?"
"Please, I'm a detective and a computer whiz. It'll be easy."
"And why do you need to hack it?"
"This is a very high-profile case, so all the evidence will be stored on that database. That should include the threatening letters."
"Are we going to get back to our normal vacation? Or is the rest of the trip going to be solving this case?"
"Jill, this is something I have to do."
"No it's not," Jill said, her tone agitated. "You just think that because of your job. No one asked you to do this, Alley hired a PI, even if he is a big jerk, and that's it. Why do you have to push it?"
Kenzie stopped eating to gape at Jillian in astonishment. Was she really suggesting that she forget about one of the most high-profile cases she'd ever encountered? That she let her favorite movie star suffer, be cursed, or whatever was going on? That she let Patrick handle the whole thing, even though he would probably be as smooth with solving the case as he was with making friends?
No, surely Jillian couldn't mean that.
"Yeah, that is kind of what I mean," she said when Kenzie asked her. "We came here to have fun, which you've told me several times on account of Patrick. You're such a hypocrite. We've only had a couple of days of fun. The rest have been all about this case. I mean, what are you on this trip, anyway? The best friend, or the detective?"
Kenzie looked down at her plate. She hated to admit it, but Jillian was right. But she hated having things hovering over her head, left undone, taunting her. It could drive her insane. Jillian, of all people, should know that. And she had to find out what was going on with Alley. She just had to.
"Then do it," Jillian said lividly as she stood up. "I'll enjoy Hidden Springs by myself."
"Jill, please."
"Forget it. I'm going to take a shower."
Jillian carried her plate to the sink, where she just let it sit, before vacating to the bathroom. Kenzie carried her plate to the sink as well, but didn't wash either yet, as doing so would cause the shower water to run cold. And she didn't want to make Jillian even more angry than she already was.
Instead, she went back to the bedroom and opened her laptop back up. She knew she shouldn't but she did it anyway. She hacked the PI database to see if she could find out anything.
Soaring past the encrypted files of the SBI, Kenzie was perplexed that there was nothing about Alley Catraz. A case of this profile should be in the database somewhere. It made no sense that it wasn't.
Maybe there wasn't really a case. Maybe it was all a lie, a way for Alley to get attention. But why? And what of her appearance? That couldn't have been faked to such a degree. Still, Kenzie kept digging in the hopes of finding something so she could move forward with this case.
The whole scenario was making Kenzie very tired. She heard the shower turn off, so she hastily closed her laptop and bolted toward the kitchen, where she began washing dishes. She heard Jillian go into the bedroom and close the door. Heaving a sigh, Kenzie finished the dishes and braved knocking on the door.
There was no response, so she let herself in. Jillian was lying on the bed, seemingly staring into space.
"Jill," she began hesitantly.
"Don't worry about it. I'm tired, I think I'll get some sleep."
"Look, I'm sorry. I don't want to fight. It's just..."
"I said don't worry about it. You don't have to explain it to me. I totally get it. But if you don't mind, I'd like to be alone."
Kenzie took the hint. She dug some pajamas out of her suitcase and headed to the bathroom to shower. She wasn't sure how long Jillian wanted to be alone, so rather than risk it, she stretched out on the couch after her shower and watched TV for a while. But her heart wasn't in the simple plot of the TV show she found. Instead, she switched it off and tried to fall asleep on the couch. This was a daunting task, as she was both hurt and confused. She'd never intended to hurt Jillian, but she was surprised her best friend was acting this way.
Who was she, really? Jillian had asked her if she was the best friend or the detective on this trip. And Kenzie couldn't honestly say that she knew for sure. At last, before she drifted off to sleep, she let the hot tears come.
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