Back at the Wish mansion, James finally got the bobby pin turned correctly, the old lock gave way almost immediately and the door creaked inward. The master bedroom was darker than the rest of the house. The heavy curtains were drawn.
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James reached over and flipped the switch on the wall. It seemed that every square inch of flat space was occupied by blueprints and maps. They were pinned to the walls, layered across the bed, and several had drifted down onto the floor. Everywhere he looked there were images of old Wishful. There were photos and drawings, all marked up with cryptic notes like, ‘maybe here?’ or ‘good hiding place’.
James realized he would have to come back later to examine this more carefully, his first priority had to be Roger.
The three younger rescuers were busy searching the garage. The light from Thomas’ flashlight added little to the already bright interior, lit from windows high up on the sides of the garage. Other than a few tools on a workbench and a couple of broken down cardboard cartons, the garage was empty.
Joey had seen enough, he wheeled out of the garage and started toward the house. He looked back over his shoulder to see if his friends had followed. There was something odd about this garage. It had a second floor! “Hey, guys I found something,” Joey rolled around the left side of the structure, and there it was, the staircase to the second floor.
Thomas took the stairs two at a time. It didn’t take long for him to return with nothing to report and the three friends headed up to the house.
To say Jeanie Pine was angry was an understatement, she was furious. When she first saw the young man sneaking around the side of her house her first inclination was to call the police, but then she got a better idea. She reached into the cabinet and found the smooth handle of a heavy cast iron skillet, perfect.
Staying low to avoid the windows she moved beside the back door, unlocked it, and waited. She had gotten a pretty good look at her would be assailant. He wore a black suit and dark glasses and looked suspiciously like he was auditioning for the role of henchman in a second rate spy flick. She was certain she could take him.
Meanwhile, back at the Wish mansion, James turned from the drawings on the wall, they would have to wait. A quick search of the master bath and closet provided no further evidence and James moved on. He walked back to the head of the stairs and turned left into a short hall leading to the maid's quarters. It was a small room with a closet sized bath containing a claw-foot tub. As he stepped into the room he could almost see Hurley, the handyman who had occupied this room in most of his growing up years.
There was nothing to indicate that Roger or anyone else had been in here in years and he started toward the service stairs leading back down into the kitchen. A sudden noise caused him to flatten up against the wall. He heard whispering and then footfalls on the stair. He looked around the room and made a decision.
The element of surprise was still his. He launched himself down the stairs in a screaming attack. A young teenage girl screamed and fell in a heap on the kitchen floor and a meaty hand stopped bare inches from beating him into unconsciousness.
“It’s Roger’s Dad, Crunch, don’t kill him!” Joey shouted.
While the searchers continued their fruitless quest, Roger winced as strange hands worked his gag back into place. His uncle's mystery henchman came around to stand in front of Roger, who discovered he was eye to eye with Ishmael Wish! This was some operation, where else did you find Wishful’s most prominent citizen doing the biddings of a madman like some driveling minion?
The hands belonged to the mayor. He looked nervous, scared even. Benedict was out of sight and hopefully out of earshot. Roger would have to take his chances.
“Mayor Wish,” he whispered, “You don’t belong here. What are you doing?”
“Whatever he asks me to, he has my future in his pocket,” the mayor whispered back.
“Untie me, together we can stop him,” Roger pleaded.
“You don’t get it, do you? As long as he says so, I stay mayor Wish. If I tick him off it’s goodbye highlife. You know he’s a Wish, right?” The man was absolutely petrified.
“Of course, I am his nephew, remember?” Roger retorted.
The Mayor looked around nervously, “Right, well, technically, I’m not!”
“What?” Roger couldn’t believe it, if he could just get out of here he could single handedly end corruption in Wishful.
“My mother was already pregnant when she married Eli. My Dad was some English actor. I never knew the name. That’s why I was left out of the will. Eli knew the truth,” The mayor was beginning to babble.
Roger looked at him curiously, “Why are you telling me this?”
“Nerves I guess, whenever I’m under stress I blurt out the most embarrassing things about myself,” The mayor had completely forgotten about the gag.
“Get me out of here and I’ll find a way for you to save face, gracefully bow out. What do you say?” Roger offered.
Before the mayor could answer, Benedict returned, “What are you whispering about? I’m blind not deaf!”
The intruder at the corner of Wish and Coin was about to get a surprise. Jeanie leapt from her hiding place, skillet swinging. Jimmy never knew what hit him. By the time he staggered across to the refrigerator a goose egg the size of a basketball was rising on the top of his head. Loss of consciousness followed close behind.
As Jeanie rummaged through her drawers looking for duct tape she heard a phone ring. It was the assassin’s -as she had come to think of him- in his jacket pocket. After three rings it stopped. They would call again. She had to hurry. She found the tape, bound his hands, and slapped him hard in the face. She pressed ice to his skull and he came to slowly.
“Where am I?” Jimmy asked groggily.
“Never mind that. Here’s what you do if you don’t want me to hit you again. This phone is going to ring any second. I will hold it to your ear. I want you to tell your boss you have the book and ask him where to bring it, got it?” Jeanie had to pat his face to keep him awake. She hoped it would work.