Paper Treasure (7 page)

“Yeah, put her on,” said his father. “You can tell me what this all about on the weekend.”

Charlie cupped the receiver and hollered for his mother to get on the line. Then he washed up for dinner and went downstairs.

Joey waited until he’d finished his lasagne before cashing in.

“Charlie’s taking me out for ice cream,” he announced.

“He is?” His mother looked at her older son suspiciously.

“I am? I mean, of course, I am,” said Charlie firmly. “A double scoop at Zimmer’s, right, Joey?” Charlie hoofed his brother under the table.

“Actually,” Joey replied, “I was thinking more like a double fudge sundae,” he said, “with whipped cream and peanuts.”

Someday he’s going to go too far, fumed Charlie as he carried his dishes to the sink.

The girl working behind the counter at Zimmer’s Ice Cream Parlour had more flavours on her uniform than they had listed on the sign. She handed Joey his fourth taster of ice cream, peanut butter brickle.

“That’s the last one,” said Charlie. “You’ve got to make up your mind.”

Joey turned the pink plastic spoon upside down on his tongue and sucked it clean. “Oh, I know what I’m having,” he said. “A chocolate fudge sundae. With whipped cream and peanuts,” he added.

The girl exchanged a glance with Charlie and Lisa as she grabbed a sundae cup. “Will that be for here or to take out?”

“Let’s take it out,” suggested Lisa. “We can walk down to the beach.”

“Good idea.”

He and Lisa each got a cone and sauntered contentedly down the block towards the park and public beach. It had cooled down considerably since they’d been there earlier in the afternoon.

The waves were rolling gently onto the wide sand strip that paralleled the park area. There were a few late swimmers, but most people were out for an evening stroll along the boardwalk, or were building castles with their toddlers on the sand.

Joey finished his sundae and ran for the play structure. His favourite, the tire, was empty. “Swing me, Charlie,” he called.

Charlie handed Lisa his cone. He grabbed the wide treads of the rubber tire, and pushing it in front of him, he ran a half-circle before shoving it up and away. Joey squealed in delight.

“He really adores you, you know,” said Lisa as he sat down on the park bench beside her.

Charlie snorted. “I suppose that deep, deep down, I kind of like him too. But not all the time,” he added.

Lisa handed him back his cone and they finished their ice cream in silence while Joey swung on the tire. “You’ve got a tiny bit of ice cream on your check” said Charlie. She looks so pretty. Her dark hair was held back with a purple ribbon, and she wore tiny peal earrings.

Lisa wiped her face. “Is it gone?”

Charlie leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the cheek. “It is now…”

“You two are disgusting,” declared Joey. He stood in front of them, feet firmly planted on the ground.

“Get lost,” said Charlie, but Joey’s attention had already drifted elsewhere.

“Hey,” he said, “see that guy over there? He’s going to buy Grampa’s house.”

“What guy?”

Joey pointed at a man jogging down the boardwalk.

“How do you know that?” asked Lisa.

“Because he came to see it yesterday. Hey, Mr. Reid!”

Charlie grabbed Joey and clamped his hand over his brother’s mouth.

Reid slowed momentarily, but didn’t turn around.

Charlie released his grip and swung his brother around. “What did you say his name was?”

“Reid,” said Joey, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “What did you do that for, Charlie?”

Charlie didn’t answer. He was too busy keeping his eye on Reid, part-time jogger, part-time house-hunger and full-time crook. “Come on, you guys. We can’t let him get away!”

Chapter Nine

Stakeout

“I don’t understand,” panted Joey. “Why are we following him?” They’d crossed the park, keeping Reid in their sights as he jogged down the boardwalk towards the centre of town.

“Because,” hissed Charlie. “Now shut up and come on.”

They rounded the corner after Reid and crouched behind the big red mailbox outside the post office.

“He must have a cramp,” said Lisa as she peeked around the corner of the mailbox. “He’s bent over.”

Reid, half a block ahead of them, was massaging his left calf.

“I’ve got it!” declared Joey triumphantly. “You think he’s the bad guy, don’t you Charlie?”

“If I tell you,” said Charlie, “then we’re even. No more shows. Nor more ice cream at Zimmer’s. And no more whining…”

Joey stuck out his hand. “Deal.”

Charlie took his brother’s grimy hand in his. “We think this guy is after those old shares that Grampa had. That’s why he broke into the house and messed it up.”

“Tell him later,” cut in Lisa. “We have to go.”

They slipped out of their hiding place and trailed Reid, staying close to the storefront windows so they could pretend to be window shopping if he looked around.

At the next corner, Reid waited for the light to change, then crossed the street and turned back towards the water.

“I bet he’d headed for the Lakeshore Inn,” said Charlie.

They speeded up and rounded the corner just as Reid was walking up the motel’s driveway. It was a two-storey building. The second-floor rooms opened onto a balcony running the length of the motel.

“There he is,” whispered Lisa, “up there.”

Reid emerged from the outside staircase and stopped at the fourth door along.

“Can you read the number?” asked Charlie.

“Two-ten.”

“Are you going to tell the police?” asked Joey.

Lisa looked at Charlie.

“I’m not sure what we’re going to do,” he confessed. “We can’t prove he’s done anything wrong.”

“Besides, it’s getting late,” said Lisa. “We’d better be going home.” She nudged Charlie and signalled him over Joey’s head.

“Aaaah,” whined Joey, “no fair.”

“I said ‘no more whining’.”

“I can’t help it,” said Joey. “I’m a kid.”

Charlie put his brother in a headlock. “I’m giving you one more chance. If you can make it all the way home without talking, I’ll tell you about the Treasure Creek Gold Mine.”

“Cool,” said Joey wriggling free. “I’ll be the leader.”

“Now what?” asked Lisa falling in beside Charlie.

“As soon as we ditch Joey, we come back,” whispered Charlie.

“A stakeout?”

Charlie nodded.

“We need to find out who this guy really is.”

“What time have you got?”

Lisa checked the luminous dial of her watch in the dusky light. “It’s nearly nine.”

“If he doesn’t come out soon, we’ll have to go home,” said Charlie. “Your mother said nine-thirty.”

Lisa shivered and pulled the sleeves down on her sweatshirt. A light breeze was blowing off the lake, sending clouds scuttling in the moonlight.

They’d left Joey on lookout at home. He was to sit on the window seat in the front bedroom and watch for any suspicious movements in the neighbourhood. Charlie had even given him a pocket notebook and pen to take notes.

“You can count on me,” said Joey.

Charlie had saluted him goodbye.

“Do you have any of those mints left?” asked Lisa softly. They’d been there for almost forty minutes, concealed at the side of the motel parking lot by a pair of cars from Indiana.

“Yeah.” Charlie dug into the pocket of his jeans and passed Lisa the roll of foil-wrapped candies.

She popped one in her mouth. “If he is the guy,” she said thoughtfully, “we still have to find a motive. Nobody goes to this much trouble without a reason.”

Charlie shifted his position. “The gold’s got to be worth something. I just know it.”

“So, how do we prove it?” asked Lisa.

“That I don’t know,” admitted Charlie. He shushed Lisa. “Look.”

Reid was pulling the door shut behind him as Lisa fixed her sights on the second floor of the Lakeshore Inn. He had changed to long pants and a windbreaker since his run earlier in the evening. They watched as he checked the upstairs corridor, and then took the stairs down to the ground level. Charlie motioned Lisa to follow him. They crept behind the line of cars to the sidewalk just as Reid passed their way.

He walked briskly towards the main street and turned left. Charlie and Lisa hung back at the corner and watched as he made his way towards the lineup for the second show at the Phoenix.

“Now what are we going to do?” asked Lisa. “The show doesn’t get out until eleven.”

“Which gives us plenty of time to search his room.”

“How? We don’t have a key?”

“We’ll borrow one,” said Charlie as he turned back towards the Lakeshore Inn.

Lisa hesitated. “I don’t know about this, Charlie.”

“Come on. The worst that can happen is somebody asks what we’re doing…I’ll do the same thing Reid did when he went to see Weirdo. I’ll say I’m his nephew.”

“That didn’t exactly work though…”

Charlie grinned at her. “Minor detail….”

The motel office was crowded. Charlie sidled up to the counter behind a middle-aged man filling out a room registration card. The two kids with him were cranky, shoving each other behind his back while a tired-looking woman did her best to ignore them.

The spare key for room two-ten was hanging on an old-fashioned peg board. While Lisa went to far end of the counter, Charlie edged closer to the keys. As soon as he was in position, Lisa bellowed “Excuse me!” so loudly even the kids stopped fighting.

With all eyes on Lisa, Charlie nipped behind the counter, snatched the key, and strolled out of the office.

“Piece of cake,” he drawled when Lisa joined him outside in the parking lot.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into it.”

“It must be my trustworthy good looks.”

“Good looks I’ll go along with, but trustworthy?” Lisa giggled.

Charlie grabbed her hand and they ran upstairs.

They stopped in front of Room 210. Charlie inserted the key in the lock. His heart was pounding.

Lisa moved closer to him. “I’ve got goose bumps,” she said.

“Me too,” said Charlie. He turned the key and opened the door. They slipped inside.

Reid had left the bedside lamp on, giving them just enough light to see around the room. Judging by the clothes hanging in the closet and the stack of papers on the desk, he’d been staying there for several days.

“What are we looking for exactly?” asked Lisa.

“Anything suspicious.” Charlie crossed the room and checked out the washroom. Reid’s shaving kit and shampoo were standing on the edge of the bathroom counter along with a bottle of pop and the usual motel amenities. Charlie couldn’t believe it. The guy used the same shampoo as he did.

“Charlie,” Lisa called him softly from the other room. “I think I’ve found something.”

She was standing by the light holding a manila folder. “There’s a letter here dated last month from a mining company. It’s addressed to Reid.”

“Let me see,” said Charlie.

Lisa passed him the letter.

He scanned it quickly. “This can’t be right. ‘…As you are the largest shareholder in the Treasure Creek Gold Mine…’ Reid can’t be the largest shareholder!”

“Yeah, but how do they know that? Reid already has Fraser Hamilton’s share, he might already have Archie’s share too. One more and he will be the largest shareholder.”

Charlie read on. “According to the assessment we have made, you will be entitled to one hundred shares in Mattlin Mining for every five shares of Treasure Creek Gold Mine.”

“A hundred shares,” squeaked Lisa.

Charlie glanced up. “Paper treasure,” he said.

They stood quietly for a moment taking it all in. If they were offering a hundred shares for every five, Treasure Creek must be worth a lot of money. “What else does it say?” asked Lisa.

“It says that if Reid can deliver fifty-one percent of the shares by July 11, the deal will go through with or without the other shareholders.”

“But that’s Monday,” said Lisa.

“No wonder he’s in such a hurry.”

“Wait until Weirdo hears about this. He’ll be livid.”

“One of the articles I read at the newspaper yesterday said new mining methods make it cheaper to get gold out of the ground.”

“Which means more profit,” concluded Lisa.

“Exactly.” Charlie’s eyes were dancing in the half-light.

They grinned at each other in self-satisfaction.

“Hey, honey,” called a voice from outside. “Can you help me with this case.”

The two intruders froze. Charlie quickly crossed to the window and peeked out. A man, burdened down with several bags, was staggering up the staircase.

“It’s okay,” he whispered to Lisa, “It’s that family from the lobby.”

He let go of the curtain and turned around.

“Charlie?” Lisa was standing by the phone, holding up a small leather book. “This must be your grandfather’s.”

Charlie flipped open the inside cover. It was Malcolm Rossitor’s address book all right. The sight of the familiar penmanship brought a lump to Charlie’s throat. He wished his grandfather was there to share the adventure.

Lisa touched his arm. “We’d better leave it where we found it,” she said. “It’s evidence.”

Charlie blinked and set the book back. There was a flurry of movement in the corridor outside. Another male voice was offering to help the traveller with the excess baggage. Charlie moved back to the window and inched back the curtain.

Reid! He was carrying one of the bags for the other man to the room next door.

“Lisa! Quick!” Charlie hissed. “Reid’s back.”

They dashed for the bathroom and his behind the door.

“I thought he went to the show!”

“Maybe he didn’t like it, I don’t know,” whispered Charlie as the key sounded in the lock.

He pressed his eyes up against the crack in the door.

Reid strode into the room and threw his key onto the desk.

He looked so ordinary, Charlie found it hard to believe that this was the man who had broken into his grandfather’s house twice and tried to swindle Weirdo and Mrs. Lovell.

Lisa tugged at his sleeve. The folder. She still held it, clutched to her chest.