Carrie5

Chapter 5

John Hargenson sat at his desk in stunned silence. That phone call had just backed him into a corner. Whoever that was, he obviously knew Carrie and he had somehow found out about his meeting with the Morton Brothers. Well the only thing he could do was lay low, for now.

Back in Atwater Carrie and Jace were finishing their breakfast. Carrie had been hungry alright. She had finished off and entire Belgian Waffle topped with strawberries and cream. Jace had peanut butter and bananas on his.

The first few minutes of their breakfast was spent in silence. It was not an uncomfortable silence though. It was actually one of the few times in her life that Carrie felt safe and accepted. Finally, Carrie spoke.

"You said this place is called Phoenix investigations, does that mean that you're a private eye."

Jace nodded,

"Yeah," he said, "I guess you could say that I'm sort of a whiz kid. I graduated from college when I was 15 with a degree in criminology. I decided that Private detective work was what I wanted to do because I have always like the challenge of figuring things out."

Carrie nodded in understanding.

"I never really had a chance to discover what I like before." She said quietly. Jace felt his heart ache for the girl.

"I suppose not," he said, "well, all that has changed now." After they finished their meal, Jace put the plates in the dishwasher and started it up. Then after a little personal hygiene he told Carrie that he was going downstairs to open the office for business.

He opened the office and sat down behind the desk. He was in the middle of wading through his morning emails when Carrie walked into the office.

"do you have any cases today?" she asked

"Just some prospects." Replied Jace, "They'll only become cases if I decide to take them."

"I heard that private eyes spend most of their time tailing cheating spouses and significant others."

"Well there is that," said Jace, "but I don't really work a lot of those. I'm picky like that. Most of my cases involve theft, embezzlement, insurance fraud and there have even been a few murders and the odd missing person case."

"Oh, I see," said Carrie

"Hmm," said Jace as he opened one particular Email, "this prospect looks intriguing."

"What is it?" she asked.

"it appears to be a missing persons case," said Jace, "This lady has come to me because the police are at a stalemate."

"Whose Missing?" asked Carrie

"According to this, her daughter," he replied, "she, her daughter and granddaughter have been here in Orlando visiting her younger sister for the last couple of months. Apparently, she's thinking of moving down here, but that's beside the point, while she was here her daughter got involved with some kind of psychic advisor and then disappeared."

"What's her name?" she asked

"Eleanor Snell."

"Eleanor Snell!" exclaimed Carrie, rushing around the desk to look at the screen, "Then it's Sue Snell her daughter that's missing!"

"Someone you know," Asked Jace looking up from his screen.

"Yeah," said Carrie, "She was about the only person outside the school Gym teacher Miss Desjardin who ever tried to make up for the way that I was tormented at school. Her boyfriend Tommy was the one that invited me to go to the prom."

A look of realization flashed on to Jace's face.

"Was he the one I saw on the ground at your feet in the dreamscape?" he said. Carrie nodded sadly

"After they dumped the bucket of pig blood on me, the Bucket fell and hit tommy in the head killing him," she said, "it was kind of the straw that broke the camel's back."

There was a moment of silence before Carrie spoke again.

"Jace," she said resolutely, "I want you to help Mrs. Snell, Sue's not a bad person she just made a mistake. Besides she has a baby daughter who doesn't deserve to lose her mother if it can be helped."

"All right," said Jace nodding, "I'll send her a message and let her know that we'll take the case."

"We?!" she said. Jace looked up at Carrie and smiled

"Well I figured you intended to tag along anyway and My dad has been hounding me to hire a partner. So, the job's yours if you're interested?" Carrie broke into a big smile and threw her arms around Jace. Though surprised, Jace gently put his arms around her accepting the hug.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said with a chuckle. Carrie let go and jumped back blushing bright red.

"Sorry," she stammered looking at her feet. Jace stood up put his finger under her chin and gently lifted her head until their eyes met again.

"there's no reason to apologize." He said, "Hugs are a good thing."

A few minutes later a reply came back from Eleanor Snell with profuse thanks and directions to her sister's house. Jace and Carrie took the elevator down into the garage. There they found Jace's Car a bright red new model Camaro. They climbed into the car and started off. About twenty minutes later they arrived at the address they had been given.

They got out of the car and walked up to a two story Mediterranean style house. Before they could knock on the door, it was flung open.

"Thank you so much for coming," said a middle-aged woman with blonde hair. Carrie couldn't help but notice the resemblance between Sue and her mother.

"I'm Jace Pierson, Mrs. Snell," he said, he motioned to Carrie, "this is my partner Carrie White."

Eleanor Snell's eyebrows went up at the sound of the name. she peered at Carrie for a moment. Carrie decided to bite the bullet.

"Yes, Mrs. Snell," she said, "I'm That Carrie White. I'm here because I want to help you and Sue if I can. She was one of the only people in Chamberlain who ever tried to be nice to me. Even if it didn't work out so well."

Carrie added that last part with a hint of sadness in her voice. Eleanor stepped toward Carrie and raised her hand. Carrie cringed not knowing what to expect. To her surprise Mrs. Snell simply laid her hand on Carrie's cheek gently.

"Thank you, Carrie." She said. Jace let out a breath that he didn't realize that he had been holding.

Mrs. Snell invited them in and they sat down in the living room. Just as Mrs. Snell settled in across from them the silence was broken by a loud baby's cry.

"excuse me," she said, "I have to feed Little Carrie."

Carrie was sure that her mouth was hanging open.

"She named her baby after me?!" she blurted out when Mrs. Snell returned a few minutes later. Mrs. Snell smiled and nodded.

"Sue has always deeply regretted the way you were treated and that she was ever a part of it. Naming her daughter after you was her way of trying to make amends for everything."

"Mrs. Snell," Said Jace, "You said in your message that Sue was involved with some kind of so called spiritual advisor before she disappeared?"

"Yes," said Mrs. Snell, "She said that he was called Avano The Celestial Messenger, before she disappeared she told that he could do amazing things and he would give his followers great insights into themselves. She seemed totally in awe of this man. The afternoon before she disappeared two days ago, However, her demeanor toward him had changed. She seemed angry when she talked about him. She left for his meeting that night and I haven't seen her since."

"May we see her room," asked Jace. Eleanor Snell nodded and led them down the hall to the room that Sue had been using. Jace and Carrie walked into the room and began to look around.

"What are we looking for?" Asked Carrie

"Well like the old Cliché says, I'm hoping I'll know it when I see it." Replied Jace.

Carrie crossed the room and opened the closet door.

"Hey Jace," she said, "Take a look at this." Jace walked over to stand by Carrie. On the back of the closet door was a large poster of a young man who looked like a cross between Michael Jackson and Prince. The man was sitting on what looked like a throne draped in a dark cloak. He sat there with his fingertips together. The most interesting part of the poster was the slash mark across his throat.

"That's Avano." Said Mrs. Snell Coming to see what they were looking at."

"Judging from that slash mark across his throat she was definitely angry and or disillusioned with him."

Carrie took a step forward and place her hand on the slash mark. Instantly she heard the beat of a heart in her ears. She placed a hand on Jace's shoulder and instantly he could hear it too.

"Jace," she said, "She's still alive!"

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