Miz Scarlet and the Vanishing Visitor (A Scarlet Wilson Mystery) by Sara M. Barton Page B

Jessica?”
    “My friend from high school. She’s working at a camp
up in Vermont for the summer. I haven’t talked to her in ages!”
There was that teenage enthusiasm for the telephone. Alas, it was
short-lived. “I have no service!”
    “Oh, let me hook you up to our micro cell.” Seven
minutes later, the gizmo designed to boost our cell phone signals
was operational, but the phone still wouldn’t let Jenny make a
call.
    “Shall I?” Kenny’s masculine hand reached out and
took it. He quickly dialed a number, waited, and then I saw him
frown as he listened. “Stepdaddy has apparently cut off your
service, Jen.”
    “But I’ve had this phone number for three years!”
    “Not to worry. We’ll get you hooked up again in no
time. We’ll reactivate it tomorrow,” said I, with great confidence.
Little did I know it was easier said than done.
    “You can do that?”
    “We can put it on my service,” I told Kenny. “Was the
phone working earlier today?”
    “Yeah. I called Zak.” What do you know...the teenager
kept in touch with her pals. That was surely a good sign. And yet,
none of her friends took her in after the incident with her
stepfather? Why not? I had to ask. “Zak’s in Colorado for the
summer, at his uncle’s ranch.”
    “None of your other friends could put you up after
your stepfather got nasty?”
    “Mirabelle’s mother kicked me out after two weeks.
She said I bummed her out just moping around all the time. And when
I stayed with Lally Wheaton, her father got a little weird because
he has a new wife. She’s like thirty and kind of bitchy. She didn’t
even want Lally around. By then, it was warmer out and I really
missed my mom, so I decided to go camping.”
    “That’s too bad.”
    “While my mom was sick, I didn’t really have all that
much time to spend with my friends. I was always taking care of
her.”
    Of course she was. Poor kid. Small wonder there
wasn’t anyone around to look out for the teenager. Everyone
probably just assumed she was taken care of by Stevie, the
jerk.
    “Well, if anyone wants to know why we’re switching
your number to my account, it’s because you’re working for me and
you need your phone here in Connecticut. We’ll all go early.”
    “We have to,” Kenny agreed. “I have to be on the road
back to New Jersey first thing. Now, time to hit the hay and get
some sleep.”
    Captain Peacock was up at the crack of dawn. I made
him pancakes and sausage for breakfast. Jenny came down just as he
took his first bite, so I made another batch for her. She was eager
to get her phone service back. Right after I got Laurel set for her
morning with her physical therapist, we all piled into Kenny’s car
and headed to the Verizon store in the plaza.
    I carefully explained that I wanted to switch Jenny’s
phone to my service plan, but the twelve-year-old in charge wasn’t
buying it.
    “Sorry. No can do,” Trong replied.
    “No can do because....”
    “The number’s in use elsewhere.”
    “Meaning?”
    “Meaning someone just bought a new phone with this
number and got a brand-new two-year contract.”
    “Who in God’s name would do a thing like that?”
Exasperated, I felt like slugging that stepfather of hers. Talk
about mean-spirited.
    “What am I going to do?” She was teary-eyed at the
thought of losing touch with all her friends.
    “We’ll just have to get you a new
phone and a new
number.”
    “But I need this number...and this phone! How else
will my friends know it’s me calling? And how can get in touch with
them if I don’t have my address book?”
     

Chapter Seven --
     
    “Oh, baby!” I groaned, expecting the teen to be
tech-savvy. “You have been spending too much time out of the loop!
We’ll transfer your contacts to your new phone, so you’ll have
every number on it.”
    Trong agreed, explaining that he had a device that
allowed him to copy everything that was on her current phone,
including photos.
    “And if you have your