Alexis and the Lake Tahoe Tumult - Erica Rodgers [32]
“Over here, ladies! Did you get dresses? Here, let me iron them for you.” She swept the shopping bags out of Alexis’s hand and headed toward the bedroom. Alexis picked up the phone and dialed the number for the reserve. Lisa picked up, but within a minute she had given the phone to Jake.
Alexis told him all about finding Chloe and that they were absolutely sure her boss was the one sabotaging the reserve.
“He’ll be there tonight, Jake!” said Alexis. “We can turn him in and get him to confess! Then the disasters will stop, and the government won’t be able to take away your license!”
Silence filled the other end of the phone. Alexis was sure that Jake was speechless. He was probably amazed that they had solved the case in under a week.
“Um, Alexis?” Jake said after a minute or two. “I hate to break it to you, but we can’t just go around accusing members of Tahoe’s elite society of being criminals. If this guy really does have money—and it sounds like he does—he’s not just going to confess to all of this. There’s a reason he’s sabotaging us, anyway. He’s not going to just give up because some kids are on to him. No offense!” Jake sighed.
“You girls have done a great job, Alexis,” Jake continued. “But we’re going to need hard evidence if we’re going to stop this guy.”
“Okay, Jake,” said Alexis. “See you in a few hours.”
“Okay,” said Jake. “Hey, let me know if you come up with anything else, okay?” It sounded like Jake felt sorry for them.
“Mmm-hmm,” said Alexis. Then she hung up the phone.
Ugh! It was so unfair! They had worked so hard. How was it possible to be so close and so far away at the same time?
“He’s right, you know,” said Bailey. “We have to have evidence. This guy isn’t going to roll over and admit his crimes to a couple of girls.”
“I know!” Alexis said. She stomped her foot in frustration. “There has to be a way.”
“Girls! Dresses are ready!” called Mrs. Howell.
For the next hour and a half, the girls allowed Mrs. Howell to dress them up as if they were Barbie dolls. She ignored them as they talked about the case and searched for ways to pin the sabotage on Chloe’s boss.
“There’s still the red paint,” said Bailey as Mrs. Howell tugged a wrinkle out of her slip. “His hand should be red, right?”
“Yeah,” said Alexis. “That’s good, but it may not be enough. He could come up with a ton of reasons why his hand might have gotten paint on it.”
Mrs. Howell had started working on Alexis’s makeup, and it was really hard to think through the case with the makeup brushes tickling her face.
“Careful, Mom,” Alexis said. “I don’t want to look like a clown.”
“Don’t worry, hon,” said Mrs. Howell. “No one will even be able to tell you’re wearing any makeup. It’s just a light blush, lip gloss, and a little bit of mascara to make your gorgeous eyes pop on camera. You two are filming the benefit for the documentary, right?”
“Yep!” Truthfully, Alexis had forgotten all about the documentary. She was glad her mother had mentioned it, but it also made her nervous. She would have to do two things at once tonight—finish filming the documentary and solidify their case against Chloe’s boss. And she wasn’t sure how she and Bailey would get both tasks done at the same time.
“Okay, now that you two are ready, I’m going to go finish fixing my own face,” Mrs. Howell said with a smile.
“Let’s go check our e-mail, Lexi, and see if the girls have worked any of their magic while we’ve been out today.”
“You know if she could hear you, Elizabeth would say it’s not magic!” Alexis said as she retrieved her mom’s computer from the other room.
“You bet! Betty-boo would remind us that God cares about every detail of our lives and is always at work—even when we least expect it,” Bailey said with a grin.
“Speaking of which, looks like everyone is signed on, including Betty-boo. We hit it at the right time.”
Alexis: Hi CCG! We’re getting ready to go to a banquet with the celebrities.
Elizabeth: I’ve been praying for you all day. I sense that the Lord is going to break through some confusion tonight.