I'm traveling, so I never know whether I'll have internet access or not. But I'll continue to post when I can. I know this is a short chapter, but there are longer ones coming up. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews!

Chapter 20.

I finally went home to pack. I'd never been to Orlando, and even though I knew a little about the place and all of the theme parks there, I had no idea what to bring. It was bound to be even hotter than New Jersey, and maybe more humid.

Like Petey, I'd always liked amusement parks, but I'd never had much opportunity to visit any when I was younger. Anyway, the thrills they promised tended to disappoint because they were so short-lived. I doubted that the food was particularly good, and I didn't really like crowds. Once more I wondered what I was letting myself in for. And how would we find Petey in that sea of tourists? I hoped Jess would have some ideas.

Finally I just threw a couple of T-shirts into my bag, along with underwear and socks, a toothbrush, and a few other essential items. That would have to do. I was sure there were stores if I needed anything else.

I poured myself some Bourbon and sat down at my piano, hoping that I could just let my mind drift, and maybe come up with some new ideas about what might be ailing Christopher. But none came. Eventually I went to bed. My mind continued to rotate through all of the questions I had, questions with no apparent answers.

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I was aware of, the morning light was peaking between the drapes in my bedroom. I forced myself up and straight to the bathroom. After relieving myself, I got into the shower. I've never been able to do the cold water thing, not after the ice baths I was given as punishment as a kid, but the sting of the hot jets of water on my back were enough to wake me and get me moving. Letting the water hit my leg also was a good substitute for a massage. That and a couple of Ibuprofen and I was good to go.

I grabbed the bag I'd packed the night before and headed out to my car. The drive to the airport started out smoothly enough, but then I hit traffic. I didn't reach the airport until about forty-five minutes before my flight. I rushed through ticketing and security and reached the gate just as they started to board.

Jess was waiting anxiously for me. "I thought you'd decided not to come."

"Traffic," I said to explain why I was late.

She nodded but she wasn't smiling. In fact, she seemed annoyed with me. "I hope you're paying for these first class tickets," she said, waving her boarding pass at me as we got in the front of the line.

"You didn't think I was going to ask you to pay, did you?" I asked, although I had considered it.

"I don't want you charging Ellie and her family for your expenses."

That wasn't the answer I expected. "I'd never do that," I said.

Jess looked at me strangely. "I believe you're telling the truth," she said, sounding surprised.

Actually, I was a little surprised myself. But it had never entered my mind to ask the Clearys to pay for anything. In fact, one of the things I'd asked Thirteen to check into was agencies that might pay for Christopher's treatment if he had Hunter's. Ellie and her parents didn't have that kind of money, and I doubted any of them had insurance that would cover it.

We took our seats in first class and sat back for the flight. An attendant was there almost immediately to offer us drinks. Jess ordered orange juice. Orange juice! "We're sitting in first class, the least you could do was order a mimosa!" I exclaimed, but she just laughed.

I watched the other passengers walk past us back to coach and then looked back at Jess.

She was still smiling. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes. "I think I could get used to this, however." But soon she opened them again. "I have an idea about finding Petey," she announced.

"That's good," I told her. "Because there have got to be hundreds of thousands of tourists in Orlando at any one time."

Jess nodded. "My brother couldn't have had all that much money when he arrived," she said.

"If that's even where he is. OK, we'll assume it is. Ellie said he took most of what they had, but you're right, it wouldn't have lasted long in a place like that." And leave it to Jess Giordano to follow the money.

"So he would have had to find a job." She looked at me to make sure I was following her logic.

"Ri-ight."

"Petey had always refused to work at Boomer's," she went on. "And he was OK with the hardware store, but his real love was cars, machinery, making things go."

I looked at her in disbelief, not at what she was suggesting, but that I hadn't thought of it myself. "You think he may have gotten a job as a mechanic at one of the parks," I guessed.

She grinned, turning her somewhat pretty face into a radiant one. "You got it!"

I nodded. Yes that would help us a lot in tracking him down.

I leaned back to think about it some more, and the next thing I knew we were landing. Since we'd each only brought a carry-on bag, we went directly to the car rental place. I'd come up with a list of motels that seemed a reasonable distance from the parks. No sense staying at the places on the park grounds, which were sure to be filled with families with a gazillion kids.

We drove from the airport into the busy part of Orlando where all the tourist hotels and restaurants were and found a place on a quieter side street. Luckily, they had two rooms available. We took them for one night, although neither of us was sure we'd be able to leave the next day. Our plane tickets were open-ended, so we just had to call the airline once we knew when we'd be ready to fly back home.

We took our things to our rooms, about three doors apart on the second floor of the two-story, old-fashioned motel, and agreed to meet out on the walkway in fifteen minutes. Jess was already there when I arrived, eager to go.

"Let's get some lunch first so we won't have to stop later," I said. I'd spotted a restaurant that didn't look crowded as we turned into the street where the motel was located.

"OK," she agreed.

So we got back into the car and drove over to the restaurant. We could talk about our game plan over lunch.