Chapter 10 – The Psychic Link
Power is a heady thing.
Maybe it meant I’d get some
Questions answered.
“You really think she stole his jewels?”
He pulled away.
“He her diamonds as a wedding gift.”
Well, THAT seemed weird.
I recalled the rock weighing down
Mirabel’s left hand.
If he threatened prosecution
Would that make her disappear?
“At least he gave one lead.
Jacobson’s.” Verne’s face set
Mulishly. “A toady.”
If I was in charge I must be
Boss. No more of this false modesty.
“How long’d she work for him?”
Sore subject! He thrashed in his seat
Like a captured cat.
“Years. I took her to England
So she’d break things off
Only to discover
He was still hounding her with
Requests.” Requests?
“What requests?”
Fingers drummed. “Scouting.”
“Scouting for what?”
“Well, he’s a porn producer.”
Verne touched my knee to
See into my eyes. “I’m sorry.”
Was this the secret Mirabel
Did not want me to know?
Was this why she disappeared?
“Was there…anything between them?”
“Definitely at first. I wooed her away.”
He considered. “He disappointed her somehow.”
Not hard for married men to do!
Verne looked at his hands.
“He asked her to launder money
Buying diamonds. I think it was a trap.”
I caught on quick.
“He set up the theft?”
In Ravi’s mind was he the only
Rightful owner and
Everyone else a thief?
Verne explained:
“He wanted people around
Who couldn’t get away.”
Why did that sound like such
A perfect description of Verne?
Here’s Mirabel surrounded with
Men wanting to possess her
Utterly. I shuddered.
It made ME long to disappear.
It also made it less likely she escaped
To be with one of them.
“Where’s Mrs. Ravi?”
“He SAYS his wife lives in Paris. But
No one’s ever seen her.”
Could we have two, not just one
Missing brides? Was marriage itself
A disappearance?
As we conversed
Another limo pulled up,
Beaver-coated man rushed out –
Ravi! And off they went.
I made my decision.
“Follow that car.”
Back to Brooklyn!
Obviously that address meant something
After all. “Stop here,” I ordered
At the final turn. Now that we knew
His destination why risk
Confrontation?
“But he lied to us!” Swore Verne.
“Just watch,” I argued,
“He’s one step behind.”
Ravi vaulted from the car
Phone clutched to ear,
Shaking his fist at the darkened sky.
“Look. He’s blowing up her phone.
And see? She’s not answering,”
Unwillingly Verne traversed
My argument. “She’s long gone. Maybe
She kept a vehicle here.”
“She didn’t have a license,” quibbled
Verne. But he seemed oddly cheered
That Ravi didn’t have her, either.
And maybe, even late-arrived
I was his authority on. Mirabel.
That’s not nonsensical
I already felt I knew her
Better than he ever could.
Why bother telling him
How easily fake licenses are obtained –
Girls must have some secrets.
“Maybe it was my mistake to insist
We meet her family.”
He chewed his lip. I saw
His sly technique – HE was responsible
For my presence here, not Mirabel!
He was a liar too.
“Let’s sleep on it,”
I suggested. “Give her a chance
To contact us.” It would take Benedryl
To sleep with all this buzz. I wished
He’d take his hand off my knee
But why say that
Just when we got along
So splendidly?
She wasn’t here. She’d get as far as possible
From anywhere associated
With these two men.
But why WAS I involved?
That’s the deepest mystery here.
Now Verne was trying to hold
My hand, laying his head
Awkwardly along my shoulder.
“You’re such a comfort.
Did you share her sister secrets?”
I could feel him luring
Me to play fake with him.
My parents do it all the time
Begging for that
Opiate of reassurance.
I can’t do it with them
And I couldn’t start now.
“Buck up –“
I braced him, “We’ll
Know more tomorrow.”
He unleashed my hand and
Glared at me distastefully.
“I blame this new androgyny,”
He complained. “Girls have lost the art
Of coquetry.”
And a good thing too, I thought.
Alysse Aallyn 
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