Dress 2 Impress: A Jennifer Cloud Novel (Jennifer Cloud Series) Read online

  “Traveler X, as we now call the red dot, has been jumping back to 1985 for the last few months, but this last time he didn’t return.” Al shrugged, telescoped his pointer back to pen size, and returned it to his pocket.

  Jake came over and stood next to me, staring at the screen. “We had just enough time to send someone back to try to get this guy before he does something we can’t fix. If he’s a new traveler, he doesn’t understand what can happen if he screws up the past.”

  “The problem is we think the brigand is Mitchell Mafuso. If it is Mafuso, he has a new key and a new vessel. We have proof he was in the same location as Traveler X in November, but we’re not sure if they’re working together.”

  Caiyan had captured Mitchell, the sixteen-year-old bundle of trouble, on our trip to the past in October. We took his key but had to trade him back to the Mafusos in exchange for Mortas, his older brother. Mortas was sent to prison. The WTF thought the older Mafuso would be more dangerous, so the exchange was made.

  “I thought Mitchell couldn’t travel?” I asked.

  “Der is always a way fer the sneaky,” Pickles replied. “He is probably jest using Mortas’s key. When Mortas gets out of jail, der will be a fight between those two over dat key unless dey find a new one.”

  Everyone nodded in agreement.

  “Are we going to send someone back to help Caiyan in the next moon cycle?”

  “There isn’t anyone else,” Jake said. “All the other defenders are either too old to go back to this time or too inexperienced to travel alone.”

  “What about Ace?” I asked.

  “Already a babe in arms.” Pickles giggled at the thought of Ace as a baby. The mood in the room seemed to relax.

  “What about me?” I knew Jake would object, but I had to ask. “I can go. I’m younger than Caiyan.”

  Jake shook his head no. “You don’t have enough experience to travel alone.”

  “We can’t just leave him there,” I stammered.

  Al looked at a printout he held in his hand. “If we could figure out who the traveler is, it might give us a clue if he could be swayed to our side. The last emissions from Traveler X’s vessel were from Florida.” He crossed the room to the giant world map that stretched across the wall. “I think here.” He pointed to an area on the map. We walked over and stood staring at Al’s finger. He reached into his lab coat pocket and pulled out a box of pushpins. He selected a red one and put it up on the map next to a green one. “I think Traveler X originated from this area. I don’t know if he stole a vessel or if he’s a new traveler.”

  Jake motioned toward the map. “We’ve been over this before; the only traveler in that vicinity is Italina.” He moved around so he stood facing us, as if to make his point clear. “She’s retired and doesn’t have any living children. In fact, we’ve searched the entire state of Florida and haven’t found anyone.”

  “Have you talked with Italina to see if she knows anyone or has seen anything strange?” asked Pickles, tapping his index finger to his lips.

  “Yes,” Jake replied. “Caiyan went to see her right before he left for the November travel.”

  Everyone was staring at Jake, waiting. “Damn, do you think he knows who Traveler X is?” Jake finally asked.

  Pickles nodded. “Maybe. I tink we need to have a chat wit Caiyan’s aunt.”

  “Caiyan’s aunt?” I asked.

  “His great-aunt, to be more precise. Italina is Caiyan’s grandfather’s sister. She’s about eighty years old and was quite the dynamo in her day,” Al said with a slight smile.

  “She was forced to retire because she’s a little forgetful,” Jake told me. “The green pin indicates retired travelers.”

  I must have been blind before because I suddenly noticed a number of green pins spread across the continents on the map. In fact, there were also blue pins for the travelers’ home locations, black pins for the brigands’ base locations, and many yellow pins.

  “What are the yellow pins for?” I asked.

  “Dey are de travelers who have died,” Pickles responded from his wheelchair. He had wheeled closer to his computers. “But we still mark their home locations in case a new traveler appears in a past lineage who went undetected, like yourself.”

  “I see,” I said, and I did see. There were many more yellow pins than any other color. The reality of it caused goose bumps to stand at attention on the back of my neck. I found Texas, and sure enough, there was a yellow pin in the small town of Mount Vernon. Each pin had a tiny number on it that Al told me cross-referenced with the computer files of all the travelers. There were also two pins in Mount Pleasant, a neighboring town, for my great-grandparents, Mahalo Jane and John Cloud. We discovered they were both travelers on my trip in October.

  “Let’s go, Jen. I need to get in touch with General Potts and plan our next move,” Jake said as he walked toward the door.

  I followed him, looking back at Al, standing in front of the map for one last glance at the sea of yellow pins on the map.

  General Potts called for an emergency meeting. There were only a few days before the next moon cycle, and we had to figure out the semantics of the travel. I wanted to figure out how to get Caiyan back in one piece.

  Jake and I were waiting in the conference room for the other travelers to arrive. General Potts was in his office on the phone, and I could hear his booming voice all the way down the hall.

  Jake was explaining that not all the travelers would be here for this meeting, only the ones who collaborate with Caiyan on a regular basis. The next moon cycle was approaching, and there would be other problems to chase in addition to the one in 1985.

  There were many travelers I had not met from all over the globe. When we were in the travel lab, I took note of all the blue pins spread out over the map. There were more blue pins than black pins, so that meant the good guys were ahead. Right?

  I was helping myself to a second cup of coffee when Brodie arrived, wearing his Crocodile Dundee hat and a worn pair of Levi’s. He swaggered when he walked, and I could see why Gertie found him attractive. He had a gorgeous smile, and if I squinted, I saw the resemblance to Keith Urban that Gertie had pointed out on our first meeting with him.

  “Hey. Ow-yar-doin?” Brodie asked, leaning in and giving me a peck on the cheek.

  “I’m all right,” I said, returning the affection by giving him a side hug. I wasn’t too sure he was the “hugging” type, but he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and responded with a tight squeeze.

  “Good, mate. Why are we meeting t’day instead of Sunday?” he asked Jake as he grabbed a few of the chocolate chip cookies off the plate next to the coffee maker. “I thought you had me pegged to follow one of the Cracky clan fer the next cycle.”

  “Yes, you are still going wherever they decide to go next week. This meeting is about Caiyan,” Jake said.

  “Oh, crimany, did he stay?” Brodie asked with a mouth full and cookie crumbs cascading down the front of his flannel button-down.

  “Yes,” I said, hands on hips. “Did you know about this?”

  “Uhm…” Brodie looked at Jake, who was taking the fifth. Before he could respond, Ace sauntered in, wearing clogs that clicked on the tile floor as he walked.

  “What the ’ell is so important?” he demanded. “I was taking an Irish clogging class.” He was dressed in black tights covered, thankfully, with a pair of neon-green running shorts and a skintight T-shirt. His long brown hair was on top of his head in a sock bun, and his lightning bolt key gleamed in the reflection of the fluorescent lights overhead.

  “How am I supposed to go to Ireland next week if I can’t clog?”

  I fixed Ace a cup of coffee, cream no sugar, and handed it to him. “This meeting is about Caiyan,” I said.

  “Oh, thanks, love,” he said, taking the coffee from me and flopping down in the closest ch
air. “What’s wrong with that gorgeous playboy now?”

  “He stayed in 1985,” I said.

  “Oh, he’s probably just shagging Madonna, or even better, Rocksanna,” Ace said as he blew the steam on his coffee.

  “Uhm, Ace,” Brodie said and gave a head nod my way.

  Ace looked up at me. My face was stone-cold mad.

  “Oh, what I meant to say was he must have a lead on our little unidentified dot and had to stay to protect the greater good of mankind.” Ace shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

  “So you knew about the dot?” I pointed my finger at Ace.

  “Well, yes, love, I thought everyone knew there was a UBD.”

  I crinkled my face with confusion. “UBD?”

  “Unidentified blinking dot.” Ace rolled his hand as he said the words and continued to sip his coffee. Grrr. He knew Caiyan hadn’t contacted me and that I was worried about being dumped. Why didn’t he tell me about the UBD? My inner voice clicked her tongue, and we did a pinky swear never to trust a man in clogs again.

  Jake left the room to inform General Potts we were assembled and ready for the meeting.

  A small man poked his head in the room. He was only about five feet tall. His arms and legs were much shorter in comparison to his head and body. He was in a navy suit and tie. “Hello, all,” he said as he entered the room and stopped in front of me. He let out a long wolf whistle as he looked me up and down. “The staff here is getting better all the time. That Potts really knows how to get the good ones.” He smacked me on the ass and ordered me to pour him a coffee, no cream, lots of sugar.

  “I beg your pardon,” I said, looking down at him, hands on my hips.

  He reached up and pushed back a strand of his copper-colored hair that had fallen across his face, obstructing his line of vision. His square jaw and long nose had the makings of a very attractive man. He poured his cup of coffee, grabbed three sugar packets, and moved a few steps away from me. He turned to Brodie and asked, “What’s with the new cookie?”

  Brodie opened his mouth to reply, but I cut him off midsentence. “For your information, I am Jennifer Cloud. I am the new transporter. I am NOT a cookie.”

  “The new transporter?” He looked around the room. “When did we get one of those?” He struggled up into one of the chairs next to Brodie. “Who do you transport for? Because I’d like to switch. My transporter is always late. See,” he said, taking a survey of the room. “She’s not even here yet, and we’re about to start the meeting. I call dibs on the new girl.” He nonchalantly took a sip of his coffee.

  “No can do, Gerry.” Brodie slapped him on the back, splashing his coffee on the table. “Jen is Caiyan’s transporter.”

  “Damn, why does he get her?” He motioned up to the heavens as if God had personally deprived him of something. “I need a tall blonde to help me reach all the high things.”

  Al and Pickles joined us, so I ignored the little man and sat down next to Ace. Pickles and Brodie were doing some kind of complicated handshake as General Potts walked in the room followed by Jake and his personal assistant, Ms. Beotch. Since General Potts wasn’t always on the base, Jake’s assistant was pulling double duty.

  The general took his seat at the head of the table. “OK, people, let’s get down to business,” he said, placing his notepad on the table in front of him.

  Ms. Beotch squeezed a chair in between the general and Jake.

  General Potts looked around the table and tapped his pen on the notepad he had in front of him, which never received even a smidge of ink. Ms. Beotch set her laptop on the table and began to type the minutes of our meeting. Just as General Potts took in a deep breath to begin, the door burst open and a tiny Asian lady rushed into the room.

  “So sorry, me so late. I stopped to get everyone a fortune cookie from my family restaurant.” She held up a white pastry bag and began passing out fortune cookies.

  “Ooh, I love those!” Ace ripped the plastic bag off his cookie and broke it in half, freeing the small white piece of paper from the cookie.

  “You will travel to the land of fun,” he read aloud. “Oh goody, I love fun.”

  General Potts cleared his throat and asked, “Can we begin now?” Everyone nodded, even though I thought it was a rhetorical question. The Asian lady took her seat next to the dwarf, who frowned at her. She stuck her tongue out at him, and the meeting proceeded.

  Jake explained about the mystery dot and the starting location of the last travel made by Traveler X. He went over how Caiyan had stayed in 1985, and I watched faces grimace at the thought of staying after the moon cycle closed. Al and Pickles explained the theory that they didn’t think the brigand was working with Traveler X, but may be following him to try to steal his key.

  “Gerald.” General Potts pointed at the dwarf. “I want you to go to New York and find Mitchell Mafuso. I want to know where he is and what he’s up to. If you can’t find him, find out where he is. I also want recon on that family of his. Find out if anyone is planning to travel and where.”

  The general pointed to the pad of paper like it was a carefully mapped out strategy of war.

  “Brodie, I need you to go to Caiyan’s homes in the States and Europe and look for any clues to this new traveler. If Caiyan knows who this guy is, I want to know about it.”

  I wanted to go with Brodie. In the four weeks that Caiyan and I had been seeing each other, I had never seen his home. He had his “normal” job of managing his accoonts, as he would say. We would meet up when I wasn’t working at the clinic and he wasn’t working wherever. We had an amazing night in Rome and another equally amazing night in Abu Dhabi.

  “I can go with Brodie,” I blurted out.

  All eyes turned toward me. Jake frowned. “Jen, I’m sending you with Ace to check on Italina.”

  “No way!” Ace slumped down in his chair. “Last time I checked on Aunt Itty, she popped my knickers off right out from under me clothes and then forgot where she popped them to. I had to walk around all day commando, and I’ll tell you, going without knickers under your jeans causes chaffing.”

  General Potts gritted his teeth as if to contain a growl, and Ace straightened up a little.

  I wasn’t thrilled about losing out on going through Caiyan’s private homes, but maybe Caiyan’s aunt could tell me a few things. “Where does this aunt live?” I asked.

  Jake smiled. “Wonderland.”

  Chapter 11

  Wonderland, the theme park that all children in the universe prayed would be their family vacation destination, was now my destination. After the meeting was adjourned, I was ushered back to my apartment to change into clothes appropriate for a theme park. My choices were limited because I’d only FedExed clothes for sleeping and exercising. I finally settled on a pair of khaki capri pants and a navy Gap T-shirt. Ace told me to wear tennis shoes because there might be some walking involved if Caiyan’s aunt wasn’t at home. I settled on a broken-in pair of Sperrys. Ace received permission to return home to change clothes, and I met him one hour later in the landing hangar. We boarded his vessel and left with “It’s a Wonder World” ringing in my ears.

  Ace’s vessel made a smooth landing, and I pulled back the curtain to the happiest place on earth. My heart was pounding, and I had to control myself from jumping up and down in an excited stupor. I hadn’t been to Wonderland since I was five. Ace stepped out around me. He had changed out of his “Lord of the Dance” outfit and looked almost normal in his black Lucky Brand jeans and white V-neck T-shirt. The shirt was studded with rhinestones and had a big skull across the chest with the logo Love Hates embroidered on the bandanna worn haphazardly by the skull.

  “Maybe we ought to buy you a new shirt, a souvenir,” I suggested.

  “Are you afraid I’m going to scare the little tykes, love?” Ace grinned, pulling his wavy brown hair into a ponytail.

  “Poss
ibly.” I shrugged, taking in my surroundings. We had landed in a clearing in a small patch of trees. Off in the distance, I could see the peak of the royal castle. The uppermost tower sparkled like a cupcake sprinkled with tiny diamonds. I smiled—even imaginary royalty gets the best.

  Ace stood beside me, shielding his eyes from the sun, and suggested we move through the trees to get a better idea where we were exactly in the park. A purple tent that reminded me of a circus came into view. A long gold cord indicated the current residents were on break and would return at the top of the hour. There was some kind of ruckus going on inside the tent. Ace and I paused outside the entrance, and gold silk bloomers flew out past us, followed by a set of gold shoes that curled at the toes and had tassels on them.

  “Why do ya got to bring that up now?” said a shirtless young man in white boxers as he came out after the pants. He looked Ace and me over, and he blew the feather attached to his large gold turban out of his face. “Sorry, I’m not doing autographs right now. Women always want their prince. Well I’ve had it. She can try kissing toads, for all I care.” He scooped up the clothes and huffed off in the opposite direction of the tent.

  Ace quickly followed. “Excuse me, sir, uhm, Mr. Sultan.”

  The man stopped abruptly and stood staring at us. “I’m not a sultan. I’m just a prince by marriage.”

  “Do you know where we might find the fairy godmother?” Ace asked.

  My mouth dropped open. Jake had told me Caiyan’s aunt worked at Wonderland. He didn’t tell me she was the fairy godmother.

  “Godmother, huh?” The man rubbed the small beard on his chin. “She normally works her routine at the castle this time a day.” He paused and looked at the sun. “If she’s not there, you’ll probably find her at the Hibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. She likes to do hair.” He pointed toward the castle. “When you find her, tell her I’ll be in for my trim tomorrow.” He turned and proceeded up the hill to a small outbuilding that was conveniently camouflaged to resemble bushes.