On the opposite side of the house and blocked from view, Drea began to worry. "Anne should be in sight by now," she said.
"Then let's look and see," Hieata said.
The two women hurried around to the other side of the structure. They spotted two women carrying a third woman. "You stop!" Drea ordered.
The two women dropped their burden and hurried down the trail. Drea and Hieata rushed to Anne's side and began to release the stricken sleuth.
"Hang in there, Anne," Drea said.
In mere moments Anna was free and rubbing her posterior. "Are you all right?" Hieata asked.
"I'm fine." Anne insisted. "It was a bad landing, but I was able to walk away."
"Glenda and Ilsa?"
"None other. I wonder who might be renting this place."
"I couldn't give you a name, but I'm willing to bet it's a woman."
"One of the Bikini Bandits?"
"That's right."
"There's one way you could check this out," Hieata said.
"Go and find out who rented the place." Anne said. "Hieata, you have the makings of a good detective."
Hieata smiled and said, "Ah, but my services would sadly be in very little demand."
The trio set off for Monsieur de la Croix' office. He was a good friend of Hieata's adoptive father and more tolerant of Polynesians than, say Madame Debernard. His conversations, however, were exclusively in French. "How may I help you?" he asked.
"My friends will like to know who you might have rented the house to," Hieata said.
"Why so?"
"We think there may be a link with the Bikini Bandits."
"The current renter is a photographer. A young woman named Erika de Veirs."
Anne exchanged looks with Hieata. "There's something we never considered," she said to Drea in English. "That Erika could be connected to the Bikini Bandits."
Drea thought for a moment, then said. "Good cover. As a photographer, Erika can help to scout the various targets. That's something we should consider. Where Erika is taking her pictures. I think we should tail her, if possible."
"I still want to check out that wreck."
"We could set out early tomorrow for the wreck and still have time to poke around in the afternoon."
"You're right, Anne.
----------------------------
That evening, Glenda gathered her foursome at the home of their local contact. During the dinner, Glenda reflected on how she got involved in this, back when she was a sophomore at the University of Miami. She and four friends wanted spend spring break in the Bahamas, but needed extra funds. During a session, somebody suggested taking the money. She didn't remember exactly, who came up with, though it wasn't her. During a discussion, Glenda joked that might wear masks and bikinis. To her surprise, it was accepted. Somebody suggested modifying the outfits to have shorts, as they had pockets. One had access to a van, another knew where to get guns, and a third would be. They hit a snag, because in the early eighties, shorts with pockets were had to come by. This was solved when they purchased five identical pairs of blue jeans then cut them down to shorts, and removing all tags. Five blue western-style bandanas were also acquired and the quintet was ready to go.
They scouted the banks for ones they could get into and out of in a hurry, and could park a block or so away from. It was decided to do five jobs. In each one, four would go into the bank while the fifth waited in the van. To make sure nobody would be left out, they drew numbers to see which one would drive the van in a particular job.
The five robberies, all held during slow periods on weekdays, went off without a hitch. Glenda and her friends took their spring break, but found the thrill too much to resist. They branched out into jewelry stores and expensive homes and made sure to hit the same place twice or to use the same exact tactics. It was perfect, until the one time they hit a bank that was just close enough to a Burger King for a cop to pull in for lunch at the same time they were about to hit the bank. Glenda was driving, and she saw the squad drive up just before after she dropped off her cohorts. She quickly pulled in front of the bank and picked up her friends and sped off. The cop did pull her over some time later, but the masks were safely in the pockets of the two they'd dropped off in the meantime. That fact, coupled with the fact two of the Bandits were a week away from graduation, brought an end to their activities.
Except for Glenda. The thrill was just too much to resist. Besides, it would help defray the costs for graduate school. By chance, she had met a pawnshop owner with a no questions asked policy. However, on her own she had to use more conventional methods of burglary. She'd find an accomplice or two, but not enough to revive her old, eccentric modus operandi. All the while she made open contacts for her legitimate employment and clandestine ones for her illegitimate employment.
Even before, Glenda realized she would have to do something to keep suspicion off her. Although she never played any organized sports, she had always enjoyed vigorous outdoor activities. To this end, none of her colleagues would see her true build. Long skirts and high-necked blouses would do. So would fake glasses. When she landed the job at the University of Los Angeles, she was overjoyed. Here she would be in a region not only for it's love of healthy, vigorous activity, but for over emphasizing outward appearances as well. It was a perfect situation.
She began to recruit. Shorter girls she prepared for conventional burglary and getting into tight spaces. Taller girls became part of the reconstituted Bikini Bandits. She insisted maintaining physical fitness and that none of the Bikini Bandits do anything that would make her easily identifiable (a task becoming increasingly difficult with the proliferation of tattoos and body piercing), even insisting that all sunbathing be done either in the nude or topless, lest a strap mark be used as an identifying mark. Fortunately for her, she lived in a large house that was quite isolated. And had a ten-foot security fence to shield herself and her minions from prying eyes.
One strange aspect was the scene at the table. She had more luck in recruiting overseas students than she did American ones. She never understood why, but that's how it was. "All right," she said. "let's get down to business. Briefly, she explained the situation.
"We've never done a kidnapping before," Ilsa said. "How will we know what this Mademoiselle Clouseau looks like?"
"We know two places where she will be," Erika said. "The airport and Debernard's. I think that would dictate our actions."
"We'll need to have somebody at the airport to know when the plane arrives, then two of us lie in wait near the Derbernard house," Glenda said.
"That leaves me out," their hostess said. "I'm busy tomorrow."
"Glenda and I could handle the actual seizure," Ilsa said confidently.
"But what if she does not speak English?" Erika put in. "Neither of you speak French."
"Than that's what we'll do." Glenda said calmly. "Ilsa, you go to the airport and call when the flight arrives, then Erika and I will lie in wait."
The other three women nodded in agreement. Glenda expected that. Her minions were expected to obey without question. She was pleased that the other three were able to analyze the situation and understand what they would need to do. Gelnda had been thinking on the same lines anyway, but it was good to see they didn't wait for prodding to actually think.
----------------------------------
Drea and Anne awoke the next morning for their excursion. Both were able to handle the boat, but Hieata insisted Taureau accompany them. On arrival at the wreck site, the sleuths geared up for their dive. They plunged into the water and swam toward wreck. They examined the wreck and looked for a way they could examine they wreck more thoroughly. Moving around the small cabin would be difficult at best, especially with tanks.
Anne, only marginally smaller than Drea, went through the cockpit. Some sand had gathered, but not much. As Anne was going through some of the sliding panels, she noticed something made of plastic. It appeared to be a clear plastic, but wrapped around something so many times it was difficult to see what was inside. She took the package and swam out to re-join Drea. Once outside the cockpit Anne gave Drea a signal to return to the surface.
Once they had returned to the boat and shed their tanks, Anne took her diver's knife and started to cut through the plastic.
"Drugs?" Drea asked.
"Possible," Anne admitted "but not probable."
Anne peeled away the plastic after she made the incision. "Look what we have here."
"Money." Drea said.
"A stash from the Bikini Bandits?" Anne wondered.
"I wouldn't put it past Glenda."
"Neither would I. Let's get this ashore and to the proper authorities and see what comes of that."
--------------------------
While Drea and Anne were going about their business, Glenda and Erika made their preparations. They chose their bikinis with care. To prevent sharp-eyed passersby from noticing a top with straps that tied behind the neck, Glenda chose one with over the shoulder straps and Erika went with a bandeau style top. Over these went t-shirts and shorts. Two bandanas were folded over, one to serve as a blindfold, the other as a gag. Rope was cut a pair of one-yard long strands. Silks scarves were produced as masks, as were two pair of sunglasses. Ilsa, who would act as a scout, was given a walkie-talkie radio and the three drove to the airport. They could not get a van, but there were able to get hold of a small, enclosed delivery truck (or at least had been one at one time). As a final preparation, Erika put a small caliber pistol in the small of her back.
As soon as Ilsa was dropped off, she made her way into the terminal and took a seat as close to the car rental counter as she could. The arrival of the flight from Los Angeles was announced the passengers entered the terminal. Ilsa believed that Mademoiselle Clouseau would be an unaccompanied woman, but needed proof. She contrived to bump against an unaccompanied woman who was struggling to get her paperwork in order. She apologized profusely for the "accident", but confirmed the woman's name was indeed Evangeline Clouseau. As soon as the other woman was out of sight, Ilsa took out the walkie-talkie and said. "The bird has landed and is flying in your direction."
On the other end, Glenda smiled and said, "I hear you."
Erika started the engine and they drove to the Debernard house. As soon as they arrived, they pulled to the side of the road. Erika and Glenda went into the back of the truck, where they pulled off their t-shirts and donned their masks and sunglasses. They almost were late. Erika pulled the truck to block the entrance to the house.
Mademoiselle Clouseau was surprised to see two women emerge from the truck, who looked like they were ready for a day at the beach, except that they wore masks. One pointed a small caliber pistol at her. One woman of the women ordered her out of the car, and she obeyed.
Glenda and Erika herded the captive into the truck. "Into the back." Erika ordered "and kneel."
Mademoiselle Clouseau did as she was told. Glenda quickly bound the captive's wrists then produced the gag and blindfold. Once the blindfold was in place, Glenda and Erika unmasked. They donned their t-shirts and Glenda ordered, "Start the truck, I'll finish here."
As the truck started to move, Glenda tightly bound the captive's ankles.