Call Our Bluff

Chapter Twelve

Lita and Veronica spent most of the night trying to come up with a plan, they went through multiple ideas only to pass out on the couch, exhausted from the demonstration of a very legitimate legend. Their sleep was restless, only managing a few hours before the sunrise and an unexpected buzzing from their apartment intercom.

"Hey, watch where you put your feet!" Lita growled as she received a kick to the stomach.

"Hush, someone is buzzing to come in!" Veronica said as she clumsily got up and ran for the intercom by the front door. "Quick, put something over the mirror!"

"Rats, so it wasn't a bad dream," Lita mumbled as she scrambled to find something big enough to cover the entire mirror. She came back with a dark grey sheet from the linen closet, pulling a chair so she could properly cover the whole surface of the mirror, giving the Hewitt's a sheepish smile as she did so.

Their uninvited guest finally made his way to their door, knocking with urgency. Veronica opened the door a crack only to see the concerned face of Mr. Chandler, the Hewitt's loyal chauffeur.

"Why hello Mr. Chandler, it's quite early for a social visit, don't you think?" Veronica said hoarsely through a fog of exhaustion.

"Good morning Miss Rivers, I do apologize for the early intrusion, but it's quite important," the chauffeur said, concern plastered all over his face. "May I come in?"

"Uhmmm," Veronica turned around to make sure the mirror wasn't visible before answering and opening the door wide. "Yes of course, come in."

"Why hello Miss Edmunson. My, it seems like you ladies had a rough night as well," Mr. Chandler said as he glanced from Lita to Veronica, taking in their wrinkled outfits from last night, their disheveled hair and their smeared makeup. "Why is a sheet draped over your mirror?"

"Oh this? It was shattered by accident," Lita replied as breezily as she could.

"Very well. I'm here because I dropped the Hewitt's off here last night and they never rang me to be picked up. Would you know where they are?"

"That's a very good question," Veronica began, trying to sort out her thoughts. "We did have a business meeting here last night, but the Hewitt's were quite inebriated and weren't making much sense. They kept mumbling about men trying to kidnap them."

"Yes, it was alarming, really," Lita continued. "We've never seen them paranoid like this before, it gave us quite the fright! They eventually left on foot, saying they needed to tend to something urgent. And that's the last we've seen of them."

"Kidnapping! Goodness me, that's what I was afraid of," Mr. Chandler said in desperation.

"What do you mean?" Veronica asked, glancing at Lita. "They weren't just spouting nonsense?"

"I'm afraid not. You see, they've never really had any success with their business endeavors until they met you," Mr. Chandler explained. "I've been their chauffeur since they were little boys, and they've always been a handful, but I think the success of your psychic readings has drastically inflated their egos!"

"They have very little contact with their family, their father thinks they are a disgrace to the Hewitt name with all their philandering. And they've always been into gambling and booze, I think it's fair to say that's relatively obvious. But since the performances at the Magic Box Nightclub started taking off, they've doubled down on their gambling, and it's ruffling feathers to say the least."

"So you're saying they've made enemies in the gambling world?" Lita asked, not surprised that the Hewitt's had enemies but astonished that they might have stumbled into their alibi regarding their disappearance.

"Why yes! The owners of the Casino de Monte-Carlo despise them, I believe they are the ones behind the alleged kidnapping plot," Mr. Chandler explained.

"I've overheard many conversations while driving them around all these years, and the tension between them and the casino has escalated over the past few months. Maybe they were finally sober for long enough to realize how serious these threats were. I believe they've either been kidnapped or they've skipped town."

"Well, isn't this convenient-I mean shocking!" Veronica blurted out. "Do you think we could be in danger since we're associated with them?"

"Yes, I would say so," Mr. Chandler said. "The Casino de Monte-Carlo is an institution here in Monaco, they are extremely powerful. It might be safer for you ladies to leave town for a while until things blow over."

"Gee, this is a lot to take in," Lita said. "Thank you for stopping by Mr. Chandler, we will take into account everything you've said!" she said as she slowly nudged him towards the front door.

"Good luck ladies, and be careful," the chauffeur said before disappearing down the hall.

"Well I'll be damned! Can you believe that!?" Veronica said in a huff.

"I guess we didn't have to spend all those hours raking our brains for a solution after all, their chauffeur just handed us one on a silver platter!" Lita giggled.

"First things first, we need to hide this mirror," Veronica said as she piqued under the sheet, the Hewitt's frantically waving at her once again. "Thanks for the alibi boys, now it's time for you to settle down once and for all!"

Lita and Veronica grabbed each side of the mirror and slowly brought it into Veronica's walk-in closet, leaning it mirror-side down against the far wall and shoving boxes in front of it so it remained somewhat concealed.

"Perfect, now everything's jake! Let's pack," Lita exclaimed.

...

That same evening, Lita and Veronica were entertaining guests in the luxe dining room compartment of the train they boarded, not wanting to compromise their new lifestyle even as they were forced to flee.

Both ladies looked less haggard than this morning, having freshened up and donned what they deemed "first-class travel outfits" comprising pencil skirts, belted cardigans and sensible shoes.

Out of loyalty to his employers, Mr. Chandler alerted the police about the Hewitt's fate, which meant that the afternoon papers had quite the sensational headline. This also seemed the work in the psychic duo's favor.

"...it wasn't safe for us in Monaco anymore," Veronica explained as she sipped on a fancy martini. "It's rather bittersweet having to leave the Magic Box Nightclub at the drop of hat, but it was beyond our control."

"What an astonishing turn of events!" exclaimed a middle-aged woman decked out in pearls. "You poor dears must have been frightened. What will you do now?"

"Well our safety is our first priority," Lita chimed in, pleased that this crowd was hanging on their every word. "But we would like to perform a tour of some sort, do psychic readings across Europe. Isn't that right partner?"

"That would be the cat's meow!" Veronica said with a wink. "First stop, Italy!"

THE END