NOTE: I began writing and submitting my first Associates story, "The Case of the Mayan Treasure" to the Tuxedo Jarod site in the fall of 1998, which is when I imagined it to be taking place. Since it took a while to get posted in it's entirety, it wasn't finished until well after the time I envisioned "The Pearl Peril" to be taking place. Just as Drea and Anne had an adventure (perhaps misadventure, in Anne's case) during a certain Halloween Party in their undergraduate days, so in between tangling with the Bikini Bandits in Mexico and Tahiti, they encountered a mystery on:
The commotion roused Drea. She looked around the room and it looked as if there was nobody in the other bed. Once Drea turned on the light and saw Anne wasn't there she began to worry. She went out to the main room and saw two figures lurking around. The doors to one of the other bedrooms flew open. "What's going on!?" Jenny demanded.
Drea went after one of the two shadowy figures with a quick roundhouse kick to the midsection.
Another figure, presumably Lucy came at the intruders. "Sarah, get back in your room and stay there!" Jenny commanded. "I'm going to call security!"
Lucy was by now pulling on the long hair of one of the intruders. The yelp it produced was female. Drea rammed her knee into the groin of the other intruder. This one was definitely male. Whether from the suddenly spirited resistance or the threat of other intervention-perhaps both- the intruders fled.
"What happened?" Lucy wondered.
"Good question," Drea said. "Even better question: where's Anne?"
They looked out to the balcony. There appeared to be somebody out on the balcony. "That's probably her."
Heedless of the cold, Drea and Lucy went over and opened the sliding door. They saw Anne lying on the snow. Though Lucy's flannel pajamas were heavier than Drea's thin nightgown, both shivered as they helped Anne to her feet. Her t-shirt and sweat pants were wet from the still falling snow. Drea and Lucy had to carry her back inside.
"Good heavens!" Jenny exclaimed as Drea untied Anne's wrists and Lucy removed the gag.
"Are you all right?" Drea asked.
"F-freezing," Anne said.
"You'll have to get those wet things off her and get her warmed up," Jenny said.
At least Anne was able to stand. Supported on either side by Drea and Lucy, she was able to go into the bedroom she and Drea shared. Since Drea had thrown the covers of her bed, Anne was set down on that bed. "There are three blankets and a comforter," Drea said. "That should warm her up."
"It might be better if somebody gets under there with her," Lucy said. "You know, warm her up with body heat."
"You're right."
By now, Anne's T-shirt and sweat pants were off. Drea helped her into a lying position. "We should be okay," Drea said. "Thanks Lucy."
After Lucy left, Drea peeled off her damp nightgown, got into the bed beside Anne, and pulled the covers over them.
Hours later, Anne awoke and looked around. The sun was up and Drea was lying next to her and both were buck naked. She shook Drea and the latter stirred , moaned, and opened her eyes. "Oh, hi Anne," she said. "Feeling better?"
"Yeah, I remember being tied and gagged out in the snow and you bringing me in her and talking about warming me up. I guess this is how you did it."
"Don't worry. Your virtue is still intact."
The two got out of bed and dressed. They started with Victoria's Secret underwear and went to jeans, sweaters, and boots. They found Jenny, Lucy, and Sarah in the kitchen. Jenny was about to start a batch of oatmeal. I don't have individual packets," Jenny said. "But I have have brown sugar and currants."
"They look like miniature raisins," Drea remarked on seeing the dried fruit.
While they ate Jenny told them she'd spoken with security. She was unable to give them anything useful, but said security, the local police, and the Ski Patrol were all willing to wait until Anne felt up to speaking with them. The meeting was arranged. Anne, Drea, and Lucy donned jackets and went to the meeting, the latter two for moral support and to give what little they remembered of the incident. Anne gave the most information, which a little more than a little bit. Both were tall, but that was all she could tell and Drea did little more than confirm what Anne had said.
"You didn't hit either one with something that might cause a bruise?" the deputy said.
"Unfortunately, no," Drea said.
"We can check and see if there is an unusually tall couple checked in," Security said.
"They may have checked in separately," Terri Becker said. She was the ski patrol's representative at the meeting.
"All those things are good ideas and have merit," Anne said.
"We'll look into it," they deputy said. "We're also interested in the staff."
Lucy didn't add much to these proceedings, but Anne noticed something seemed to be troubling her, so she asked Lucy about it.
"I'm worried they might try again now, when it's just Jenny and Sarah there," Lucy said.
"We can check it out," Anne said.
Anne and Lucy left, but with Drea and Terri close behind. "You know, one of the instructors is a fairly tall woman," Terri said.
"What's her name?" Drea asked.
"Her name's Heidi Schultz,"
"Sounds like she's worth looking into."
"It'll be easy for the two of us. I know where she lives." She gave the address.
While Anne and Lucy were checking in on Jenny and Sarah, Drea and Terri set out for Heidi Schutlz's home. it was a small ranch style house on the edge of town. As Terri drove up, Drea's cell phone chirped to life. Jenny and Sarah were fine, the former was supervising the latter's efforts at building a snowman, no doubt getting in some quality mother-daughter time as well. "If you can get over here, it would help," Drea said, then hung up.
"They should be here in a little bit," she said to Terri. "Though neither is familiar with driving in fresh snow."
"The Plows are out," Terri said. "Let's have a look around."
The two got out of Terri's car. The driveway was freshly cleared, so somebody was home. the two went around to the back. The house had front and side doors. Drea found getting around in fresh snow was something difficult, especially when it went above the ankles. she became aware of somebody approaching. She turned to see a tall man almost within arm's length and pointing a Glock at her. "Inside," he said. "Both of you."
With no choice but to obey, Drea and Terri went into the house. "So you caught a couple snoopers, Gary," Heidi said. She was about Drea's height and blonde as well.
"That's right," the man said.
"You two, put your hands behind your backs."
First Drea, then Terri had her wrists bound. They were then ordered to kneel. Once they were complied, Drea and Terri were cleave gagged with bandanas. From there they were forced face down. Their ankles were bound, then their knees drawn up and connected to their wrists as a hog tie.
"Good," Heidi said. "Looks like we'll have to make cut this one short. Gary, make arrangements to sell the jewels and launder the cash."
Gary left and Heidi turned her attestation to the struggling pair. "Don't waste your time," she said. "It'll take hours to wiggle free and you don't have much time."
Drea and Terri looked at each other with baffled expressions in thier eyes. Heid went into the kitchen and after a few minutes, emerged with an igniter. "I planned to torch this place anyway when I left, to discourage pursuit," she explained. "The stove is on and the oven is open. I doubt much blonde hair would survive the flames, but you are the right height."
She walked over to an end table and picked up a candle. There was no real need to do so, she did to show in no uncertain terms Drea and Terri understood what lie in store. Heidi set the candle back down and lit it.
Heidi walked slowly to the closet and removed her overcoat. While she was doing that, she became aware of two other people entering the house. She was charged by the taller of the two dark-haired women who avoided Heidi's blow and then flipped her to the floor. "Quick, Lucy, your scarf!" Anne ordered.
Anne was straddling Heidi as the latter lay face down. Anne bound Heid's wrists while Lucy pulled down the gags. "Blow out the candle!" Drea said as soon as she was able. Lucy complied.
Once Drea and Terri were freed, Heidi was treated to some more effective binding with the ropes that had been used on the two. While Terri called the sheriff, Lucy shut of the gas.
"You made it okay," Drea said.
"Lucy got right behind a snowplow," Anne said.
As she was being taken into custody, Heidi told the deputies of Gary's intentions. She wasn't about to go down on her own. As for Drea and Anne, they didn't mind. The spent the afternoon on fresh powder and the next morning, started the drive home and to whatever case may have awaited.
THE END
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