Chapter 38: Dream a Little Dream of Me

Since setting foot on French soil, Charlotte Charles rarely struggled to succumb to sleep. Now, however…minutes melted down and spread out into hours, with Chuck teetering on the brink, before startling awake as if someone had snatched her back. Later in the day, Lily and Vivian would ask why she looked so tired, and she would say she had stayed up all night worrying about ticket sales. Which was at least partly true…

The whole truth was divided into slices of varying sizes, marked Darling Mermaid Darlings and Charles Charles and Emma and Eugene and Ned.

During their call, she had repeated each part of her veiled message at least thrice until it seemed he understood. Even then, she could not elaborate enough to assure him she was safe, lest she should jeopardize the security that came with secrecy…

"Okay," said Ned, in a way that suggested things were not. "Uh…well…is everything okay? Are you all okay, really?"

"I pinky promise we are," said Chuck with as much confidence as she could muster.

"And I appreciate your promise, but it does lose some of its power when our pinkies can't physically link…" The Pie Maker sighed; went silent for a moment, before speaking again more tentatively. "I think…I think we should come see you on your next stop. Not touching you is one thing; not even talking face-to-face is…"

Chuck gripped the receiver, feeling every inch of distance stretching out between them. She swallowed against the bitter sting of tears threatening to choke her and played along, half-joking that she might pull some strings with a certain airline. Of course, she would never actually ask Eugene to assist in this. Still…a girl could dream…

XXX

The Pie Maker would be lying if he said he had never woken from a nightmare and remembered his old friend. Ned knew that they were once close and he could not bring himself to believe Eugene would betray him. Alas, the possibility of betrayal still lurked around every corner. All it took was one person asking the wrong question about the immortal animals in his possession…

"So your buddy Mulchandani has been the proud owner o' two undead pets," Emerson surmised, "but he didn't say anything to you for years. Best case scenario: he never figured it out. Worst case: he did."

"And he snitched," Olive added. "Which makes his 'running into' Chuck look like more than a coincidence."

"But how would he know about her?" Ned fretted, fiddling with the car keys in his hands. "He can't know…"

At that moment, an icy gust of wind rushed past, taking their breath away like a thief snatching purses and dashing down the street.

The Pie Maker had suggested they take their conversation outside, for fresh air and privacy from any prying ears. Olive acted accordingly, leading them to a veranda that looked out onto a long expanse of grass, lined with statues, extending down to a fountain at the end of the garden. In springtime he might have found it all quite calming; in winter it only served to make him more jittery…

"Maybe he recognized her from all the news stories about her death?"

Emerson nodded. "He realizes who the Lonely Tourist really is, remembers Dough Boy, and offers to join forces. But he's just a pilot, right?"

"Last I heard…"

Olive shook her head. "According to Chuck he's a pilot with friends in high places…"

"Looks like it," Ned muttered. He had half a mind to drive down to the payphone again and call Chuck back, so they could dispense with this cloak and dagger act. "She made it sound like he's on our side. Like they're all working together. Eugene knows something about Emma…"

Olive squirmed on the cold wrought-iron bench. "If he was a bad guy he would've done something with that info already. Something of the Clancy Treadwell variety."

Ned shuddered, unbidden memories coming to mind of being put up for auction…

"I have to go," he blurted out. "I can get a flight to France for tomorrow-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" the PI interjected. "Slow your roll, Dough Boy. Let's take this one step at a time. Chuck has her dear old dad. What about yours? If the boys' mama is in any kind of danger, then contacting him should be our first order o' business."

Ned felt his skin prickling with agitation, the same kind that flared up when he aimed a gun at Dwight, itching to pull the trigger. What was the point of running and hiding if he could only protect a handful of people at a time…?

"I don't even know where Eddie went, or when he'll call." The Pie Maker could hear his voice growing louder; feel frustration boiling over beyond his control.

"Well in that case…" Emerson reached over to pry the keys from his grasp. "What do you say we give him a day or two before we hit the panic button?"

"Riiiight," said Olive, in the soothing tone one would use on a colicky baby. "For all we know Eddie's already with Emma. He may not know about Eugene but he knows everything else. If he loves her he won't just leave her behind."

"You're talking about the person who has a track record of doing exactly that?" Ned snapped.

Olive reeled a little, eyes wide with an expression that made his heart plummet. "Point taken. But…that was a long time ago. Since he came back his top priority has been keeping you all safe. In his own roundabout way. And flying off blindly to Paris is the opposite of safe." Ned avoided her gaze, feeling foolish. "So please don't. At least not yet. Because if you do you're gonna have to take us with you."

"And it's gonna be on yo dime 'cause I ain't payin' for a last minute flight."

The Pie Maker grimaced, embarrassed and ashamed at his outburst.

"Sorry," he murmured, placing his open hand next to Olive as a peace offering. "I'm acting like a jerk." She rested hers in his palm, comically small digits cocooned there. "I just feel…powerless. Chuck is halfway across the world with people I don't know if I can trust."

"You can trust her father to look out for her," Emerson said, with the authority of someone who knew from experience. "As for Eugene Mulchandani…how about we do a little research?"

XXX

At first, Oswald Snook refused point blank to let them use the old computer in his study. He huffed and puffed about confidential employee documents and private investments and photographs of a personal nature until Olive convinced him they were not at all interested in any of it. They only wanted to search for reviews of restaurants in their area. Moved by the prospect of his guests leaving the house to eat elsewhere, Mr. Snook acquiesced and left…

"If I didn't know better I'd say Pops has somethin' to hide," the PI muttered.

Itty Bitty peered over his shoulder. "Just make it quick," she grumbled.

"Where do we start?" Dough Boy asked, peering over his other shoulder.

"Sometimes a fancy private school like Longborough has an alumni directory-"

"Ooh, look up, Ned!"

Emerson rolled his eyes. "What happened to make it quick?"

"Touché…"

"There's nothing to look up anyway. I went out of my way to be invisible. Except for that time I snuck into the kitchen and accidentally threw a pie party for all the other homesick kids in my year…only one 'u' in Mulchandani."

Emerson erased his mistake, re-typed and pressed ENTER. But it seemed that was as far as he could go without the credentials Ned would have received if he signed up. Undeterred, the PI opted for a more generalized search of any 'Eugenes' in Papen County, which yielded immediate results…

Aether Airlines – Meet the Team

They followed the link to an alphabetized list of staff, including pilots, senior officers and air traffic controllers. Halfway down they found his profile, with a picture attached. At the sight of it Olive inadvertently uttered what sounded like a purr, prompting Ned and Emerson to stare at her. She clapped a hand over her mouth, cheeks tinged with pink.

"Something got caught in my throat," she coughed.

The PI scoffed and returned to the page, reading out loud:

EUGENE MULCHANDANI – CAPTAIN

After completing flight training at the top of his class, Eugene served as a First Officer for several years before finally rising up the ranks to become our youngest long-haul pilot.

While flying is his ultimate dream, Eugene took a rather dramatic detour to pursue his studies at the University of Winchester, where he graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Biology. He also minored in Zoology, making him uniquely qualified to assist with any emotional support animals on board.

He currently flies the Airbus A380.

The PI sat back, reading and re-reading as if more information might reveal itself, written in invisible ink.

"Welp. Looks like he took a specific interest in animals…"

A cold dread seemed to settle over all of them in the silence that followed. Before anyone could think of what to say next, Mr. Snook beat them to it, bursting through the door to demand they vacate his office.

"That's more than enough time to make up your minds! There're only so many restaurants around these parts…"