“You bet,” Andria said.
“All right. Let’s sweep the perimeter of the house first. If all is clear, we’ll approach the front door…with caution, of course.”
She gave him a thumbs up.
As soon as he exited the car, Finn spied several newspapers haphazardly piled beside the Stephenson mailbox. He’d missed it before because his view was blocked by the hood of their car. The stack of newspapers gave him an idea.
Finn gently clicked the car door shut then turned and desperately waved a hand trying to catch Andria’s attention as she wiggled her voluptuous figure out of the car. When she finally looked his way he pointed anxiously toward the newspapers. Confused, she gave him a blank stare and shrugged her shoulders. Finn quickly pushed both hands out toward her, gesturing for her to stay put. She nodded and waited while he slipped around to her side of the car. Once there, he leaned in close and spoke softly into her ear. “It doesn’t look like anyone’s been home for a few days. Instead of sweeping the perimeter, I think our best bet is the direct approach using my badge. If anyone is home, we can pose a few questions and possibly gain access inside the house for a look around.”
His warm breath in her ear caused an involuntary shiver, momentarily distracting her.
“And what if they say, no?” she asked.
“No harm done. We ask a few simple, non-probing questions then come back later with a Plan B.”
Andria shrugged her shoulders and motioned for him to take the lead.
They made their way down the driveway and up the front steps to the front door. Finn gave a quick couple of knocks, then waited. There was no answer.
Finn knocked again while motioning for Andria to peek through a side window.
She did his bidding, then looked back at him and shook her head NO.
“What now?” she whispered.
“We experiment,” he said, as he reached for the door handle.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking a calculated risk.”
“What if you’re caught?”
“I have a badge, remember?”
Finn gently twisted the door handle to the right and pushed. No luck, it was locked.
“Drat!” he said, then reached for his back pocket. He pulled a thin, credit card sized piece of metal out of his wallet.
“For emergencies,” he said, then winked and inserted the metal card into the door jam beside the handle. He gave the card a firm push then turned the door handle. The door popped open.
“That’s impressive,” Andria said, then giggled. “That classified background is beginning to make a little more sense now.”
Finn grinned and gave her a curt nod, then pushed the door open a few inches.
“Hello?” he called out.
There was silence.
“Hello?” he said again. “This is the police.”
When no one answered a second time, Finn pushed the door open and moved forward into the foyer, then switched on the light.
They stood still and listened a few moments. Not a sound. They took the silence as an invitation to continue on. Finn, with Andria following close behind, moved straight ahead into a hallway leading toward the back of the house.
The hallway dead ended into a large family room furnished with matching La-Z-Boy recliners and leather sofa facing a sixty-five-inch large screen television. Andria turned her attention to the television while Finn scanned the rest of the room. Haphazardly lying on top of an end table beside one of the recliners was an opened Fed Ex box and handwritten letter that caught Finn’s attention.
Out of curiosity he checked the date on the Fed Ex box — it showed yesterday’s date — then leaned in and read the letter.
Incredible.
“We’re in the right place,” Finn announced.
Andria turned her head. “What makes you say that?” she asked.
Finn pointed at the objects on the end table. “Because this letter, and apparently the Monkey’s Paw, was delivered by priority mail to this address yesterday around the same time of day as the paranormal surge that Andrew and The Powers Group observed.”
Andria moved closer to inspect the objects.
“So what do we do now? And…where is Mr. Stephenson?” she asked.
“Enjoying his first wish, I suppose,” Finn said.
Chapter 2
Soon after their morning discovery at Mr. Stephenson’s house, Finn and Andria made a beeline back to The Powers Group’s headquarters hoping to gather more answers.
When they arrived, Finn, with Andria following only a few steps behind, high stepped into Andrew’s office barking commands. “We need to run a check on all movement and financial charges for a Mr. Riley Stephenson within the last twenty-four hours,” he said.
Andrew looked up from his desk with surprise written all over his face. They were moving quickly toward him.
“You were right,” Finn proclaimed, still halfway across the room. “We found proof that Mr. Stephenson received the Monkey’s Paw, as a gift, by mail at his home around noon yesterday.”
“What proof?” Andrew asked.
“Inside his residence, we found an opened Fed Ex package along with a letter from a friend. The letter included cautious instructions alluding to the possible dangers of the paw’s misuse.”
When he heard this, Andrew spun his chair to the right so that he was facing his personal computer and quickly tapped on the keyboard. When he finished typing he pressed enter and waited as the screen updated based on the information from his query.
The Fed Ex delivery Mr. Stephenson had signed for yesterday showed up first. A second hit showed a credit card charge — two, one-way plane tickets to the Eduardo Gomes International Airport (MAO) outside Manaus, Brazil. The ticket reservations were for later tonight.
“Yes, the Fed Ex delivery is confirmed right here,” Andrew said, tapping the computer screen. “So also, are two plane tickets to Manaus, Brazil.”
“TWO plane tickets?” Andria blurted out. “He’s got a crony?”
“Looks that way,” Andrew said.
“Hmm,” Finn uttered softly, then stood, brought a hand to his chin and slowly paced irregular circles around the room. Focused, his stare of deep concentration never left the floor. After his third lap, he looked up and snapped his fingers. “I think I may be onto something,” he said. “If I remember my geography correctly Manaus is considered the “Heart of the Amazon.”
Andrew acknowledged him by nodding is head, yes, then typed a few more buttons on the keyboard. Andrew waited patiently as the computer crunched the database from his input. Finally, the monitor’s screen updated with new information.
An awkward moment of silence passed before Andrew turned and capped one hand over the other. “I think he could be headed for an Elisha Pool,” he said, then dropped his head in his hands.
Finn and Andria cut their eyes in each other’s direction and exchanged confused glances.
“A what?” Andria asked.
“An Elisha Pool,” Andrew said, looking up at her.
“What’s an Elisha Pool?” Finn interjected.
Andrew paused a moment. “It’s a rare pool of water purported to be capable of regenerating health,” he offered.
Dumbfounded, Finn and Andria stared at Andrew for a full ten seconds, studying his face for signs of jest. There was none.
Is he serious?
When the ten seconds passed, although hesitant to speak for fear of sounding silly, Finn voiced a question. “You mean a pool of water like the mythological Fountain of Youth?”
Andrew’s stoic expression remained unchanged. “That’s exactly what I mean,” he said.