Sweet Fortune

immediately after she took over. She was being a bit too straightforward with the customers, if you take my meaning.”
    “I think I get the point.” Hatch's brow rose. “A little too honest, Jessie?”
    “I simply told them the truth about the products they were buying and sent a few of them who looked particularly ill to a doctor. That's all,” Jessie stated.
    “It was enough to butcher my bottom line within a month,” Mavis confided to Hatch. “She was so nice, and such an enthusiastic person, though. I really hated to let her go, but business is business.”
    Hatch nodded in complete understanding. “Believe me, I know the feeling, Mavis. Business is business.”
    For some reason that struck Jessie as funny. She started laughing and could not stop. Hatch smiled in quiet satisfaction.

    The next morning Jessie walked into the small building housing Valentine Consultations with a sense of impending disaster weighing on her. As soon as she opened the front door of the building she saw the green glow seeping out from the cracked doorway of Alex's office. She pushed open the door and glanced inside.
    The place was in its usual state of disarray. Alex, his head cradled on his folded arms, was fast asleep amid the clutter of empty soda cans and pizza cartons. He stirred as Jessie stepped into the room.
    “Did you spend the whole night here, Alex?”
    “Hi.” He yawned, rubbed his eyes, and reached for his glasses. “Yeah. I was here all night. Started talking to Susan. After she went off-line, I fell asleep.”
    “You contacted Susan again? Is she all right?”
    “She's starting to sound real scared, Jessie. Said she thinks she's being watched. I told her that I'd get her off that island anytime she wants.”
    “No kidding?” Jessie sat down in the chair next to his. “What did she say to that?”
    “She panicked. Said absolutely no police.”
    “Hmmm.” Jessie glanced at the screen and saw the words that had appeared on the top half. “Is that her last message?”
    Alex frowned. “No, I cleared the screen after her last one. Holy shit.” He leaned closer, alarmed. “That's a new one. She must have sent it to me while I was asleep.”
    Jessie leaned forward to read. It was the longest message she had yet seen from Susan Attwood.
    I'm really getting scared, Green. I want out of here. I think I saw data I shouldn't have seen. Please come and get me. The cove on the eastern side of the island. There's a buoy marking it. Please be there in a boat at midnight tonight. Green? Green, are you still there? I hope you get this last message. I've got to get out of here. Good-bye, Green. Please, no cops. I'm so afraid. I just want to get away from here. I hope you're still there, Green .
    “Holy shit,” Alex said again. He surged up out of the chair. “We've got to rescue her.”
    “Of course we do.” Jessie glanced at her watch. “We'll have to get moving. It'll take time to get to the islands and arrange to rent a boat. Do you know how to operate one?”
    “No. Damn.” Alex swung around, his eyes frantic. “We've got to find someone who knows how to pilot a boat. Someone who can keep his mouth shut.”
    Jessie thought for a moment. “My cousin, David, spent a few months on a fishing boat up in Alaska. He knows about boats.”
    “Think he'd help us?”
    “I think so. I'll call him.” Jessie reached for the phone.
    “After you get hold of him, you'd better call Hatch,” Alex said.
    Jessie winced. “He's going to explode when he hears what we're planning to do.”
    * * *
    She was right. Hatch exploded.
    “I don't know how I let you three talk me into this. I must be going crazy.” Hatch stood at the helm of the small cruiser as David let it drift silently toward the buoy that marked the small cove. The heavily forested island rose like a great black blot against the starry sky.
    It was close to midnight and there was a moon. The night air was crisp and there was no fog. When they had gotten near the island David had shut off the running lights, eased back the throttle, and used the lights from the mansion as a guide. The buoy had been right where Susan Attwood had said it would be. A good twenty-minute walk from the house. Maybe longer, given the rough terrain.
    Hatch had been uneasy since Jessie had phoned him that morning. If he had not known better, he'd have thought he'd developed a few psychic abilities himself lately. But it was nothing that fancy or complicated. Just his common sense