Robert “Red” Randall sat down at a table close to the front of the cafe and took a quick sip of his cappuccino. It was still rather hot, so he let it sit a bit while he watched the door. He could tell out of the corner of his eye that a few people were glancing at him. That barista must have been telling everyone who came to pick up their orders that his red hair was natural, not dyed. Red was used to it by now. Besides, he was here for an important meeting for his employer, Mr. Hughes; he wasn’t going to let a few curious stares distract him.
He did come with his best friend and co-worker, Aadav “Sunny” Swarna, who was now in line for his chai. The two hadn’t wanted to take a chance on missing their contacts when they came in. Sunny had insisted that Red go first, it would have been hard to miss a red-headed Asian. Red took a sip of his cappuccino, a smirk beginning to form. If they didn’t see him when they came in, the curious stares would totally point him out. He took another sip. Looking odd had its ups.
The door chime jingled as more customers came in. Red tried to look at them inconspicuously. It was a couple of young men, fresh out of high school he assumed. The chime jingled again and three young women walked in. Red subconsciously shook his head. These weren’t the group he was meeting. He was looking for a group of three young women: one with violet eyes, the other two were identical twins. He was slightly glad of one thing: the five had paused to chat close to the doorway, which would slow incoming patrons; he could watch people coming in without looking too creepy. Well, at least he hoped. He took another glance at the fivesome, there was something familiar about those three women, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
He shot a quick glance at the line, hoping Sunny was on his way back. He glanced at his watch. It was now five minutes past nine; they were going to be here any minute. The chime jingled, and Red’s head snapped up. He blinked, was that them? Two were obviously identical twins, but the third had her back to him. Please turn, he mentally asked, please turn. One of the twins touched her shoulder and pointed towards him. She turned. That was her, here was the group. He rose as the three walked towards him.
“Robert Randall, better known as Red for…” she paused, looking at his hair. “…for his natural red hair?” The violet-eyed woman spoke with a soft English accent, indicating the years spent at a school in England.
Red grinned. “That’s me. Are you Miss Violet Strange, daughter of socialite Helena Strange and entrepreneur Peter Strange?”
She nodded. “I am.” She glanced around. “Weren’t you bringing a friend?”
Red nodded at the line. “He’s in line for chai, should be back in a minute.”
Violet glanced at the line. “I see.”
Red indicated the chairs. “Would you like to sit down, or do you want to get in line?”
Violet nodded at the table. “We’ll sit. We have other appointments to attend to.”
Red nodded. “Understandable, ma’am.” He pulled out a chair for her, and she sat down. Sunny came back at that moment, and helped Red pull chairs for the twins. When the two men were seated, introductions were made. The twins were Connie and Kit Blair, childhood friends of Violet. Connie was wearing blue, while Kit was wearing pink. Red was glad, he wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart otherwise.
“So,” began Violet, “would you care to explain to me why Mr. Hughes contacted me for a meeting, but is having his pilot and his chauffeur meet us?”
Red leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Because he believes he is in grave danger and didn’t want to risk coming here himself. Having the two of us come here to meet you was a risk, in and of itself. We can trust the rest of the staff to keep an eye on him, but the two of us would have had more time to do so as we don’t have to cook, clean, or tend to the gardens.”
Violet nodded. “That’s understandable. Have you figured out who exactly he’s in danger from?”
Red sighed. “Yes, and here’s the worst part: they’re constant guests at Mr. Hughes’s house.”
Kit’s mouth dropped slightly. “He hasn’t stopped inviting them over?”
“There are seven people we suspect,” explained Sunny, “Mr. Hughes thought it best not to make any drastic changes until we know for certain who it is.”
“Besides,” said Red, “all of them are known to have gotten their wealth through… um, shall we say, questionable means, if you take my meaning.”
“Of course,” said Violet.
“But why does Mr. Hughes surround himself with such questionable characters?” Kit asked.
Sunny chuckled nervously as he shot a sidelong glance at Red. “He asked the same question. But to put it bluntly…”
“The same reason he hired you and contacted me, “said Violet a little sharply. “He has to surround himself with colors. It’s his eccentric calling card, if you will.”
Connie nodded. “That’s right! I work at Reid & Renshaw’s; he wouldn’t let them change the name!”
Red glanced at her in surprise. “You work at his advertising agency?”
Connie shrugged. “Well, now I do. I worked for my aunt at Campion’s for a little while.”
Red nodded. “I see. So, you understand a little of what we have to deal with.”
Connie grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, a little.”
“Good, maybe you can explain it to your sister and Miss Violet better than I could.”
She smiled. “Oh, I’m sure you would have done fine. Besides, I only know a little about Mr. Hughes. You work directly for him.”
Sunny grinned. “She does have a point.”
Red waved his hand. “Whatever, we’re getting off track here.” He turned to Violet. “Did he mention what he would like you to do?”
Violet sighed. “He wants me to be one of his guests for the next few months.” She glanced between Kit and Connie. “But I would like to have them along, Connie especially, since she’s great at finding clues. But I don’t know about their jobs…”
“Well, Mr. Hughes can handle Connie’s job…” he glanced at Kit, “…what about your job?”
Kit huffed. “I work with my dad in his hardware shop.”
Sunny leaned forward, excited. Red smirked. This was his area of expertise. “Really? Where is it? I would like to check it out!” He paused. “And maybe I can help you to convince your dad to help us.”
Kit smiled. “Thank you, but I know how to convince him. I’ll just need a bit of time, that’s all. And maybe find a compromise. After all, he truly does need my help in the store.”
“See, I can help with that. I have several brothers and sisters; I’m sure one or more wouldn’t mind helping out during the summer.”
Kit gasped. “Really? Why, that might be just the thing!!” She pulled out a notebook and a pen. She wrote down an address and a phone number before ripping out the piece of paper and handing it to Sunny. “Here’s the info, have your siblings call the store before they come over.”
Sunny grinned and saluted her. “Yes ma’am.” Kit grinned back at him.
Violet nodded with approval. “Things are shaping up quite nicely.”
“But I have a question,” said Connie.
“Yes?” said Red.
Connie glanced around the cafe. “If Mr. Hughes didn’t want you to risk public curiosity, why have us meet here?”
Violet smiled warmly at her friend. “I was just coming to that.”
The door chime jingled. Red nodded at the door. “That’s why.” Then he realized why he thought those three women standing near the front looked familiar. They were reporters!! And one was a particular favorite of Mr. Hughes, Beverly Grey! He had read her stories more than seen her on TV, but that wasn’t who Mr. Hughes had wanted Miss Violet to see. The woman he wanted them to see was trying to get past the reporters without answering many questions. She looked like a movie star, as she should. She was Miss Kasandra Scarlet, renowned rising star and quite the gold-digger, especially when it came to Mr. Hughes’s wealth. Her dark brown hair was styled in fancy waves, and her calculating brown eyes scanned the room for some way to make the story even juicier. Her eyes came to a stop at their table, and her eyes widened with familiarity. Red braced himself and repeated the story they were going to give her in his mind. She walked briskly towards them as a smile spread across her face.
“Why, Miss Violet Strange! How…strange seeing you here!” She giggled at her little joke as she glanced around the table. “As well as Red and Sunny! Do you know each other?”
Violet spoke up before Red could have a chance. “Why of course not! I merely recognized these two from the news, and since there was room at our table, offered them seats.”
“But you’re not drinking anything!”
Violet gave a flighty shake of her head. “Of course not! Can’t finish something I already finished, right? Trying to drink from an empty cup would make me look rather ridiculous, don’t you think?” Red took to drinking from his cappuccino so as not to let Miss Scarlet see him smirk.
“Why… why of course! How silly of me. So, you were just leaving?” Her eyes scanned the table, apparently looking for anything to indicate exactly why they were at the same table.
Violet nodded. “Yes, we were, but not without sending Mr. Hughes a message.”
Miss Scarlet’s eyes seemed to widen slightly, clearly interested. “Oh? Well don’t let me stop you.”
“Oh, I won’t.” Violet turned on the woman and faced Red. “Red, let Mr. Hughes know that I accept his invitation for the summer, and that I would like to bring my two friends along.”
Red nodded, feeling immensely relieved. “I will be sure to do that, Miss Strange.” Violet smiled and nodded before rising from the table.
Miss Scarlet was stunned. “You’ll- you’ll be joining us for the summer?”
“Why yes. A fine change of pace, wouldn’t you agree?” She flipped her hair, as if she was giving a defiant answer to an unseen challenge. Connie and Kit joined her, and the three walked out the door, followed by one of the reporters.
Miss Scarlet turned to Red and Sunny, an accusation in her eyes. “So, care to explain why Mr. Hughes decided to invite Violet Strange to this year’s festivities?”
Red merely shrugged. “You tell me, this was the first I heard of it.” She turned her accusing eyes on Sunny.
Sunny threw up his hands. “Don’t look at me! I know as much as Red does!”
She glanced between the two again before letting out a sigh. “Oh, very well. Mr. Hughes is rather eccentric, and not even his own staff knows him that well.” She scoffed. “I doubt his fiancée does either!” She looked at them as a smile brightened her face. “Oh well, the more the merrier, and one must deal with whatever one’s host desires. And now I must bid you adieu, my coffee awaits!” She blew a kiss before walking away. Red and Sunny glanced at each other before quickly getting up and walking out. They didn’t feel safe until they were in the car, when they let out sighs of relief.
“That went better than I thought,” commented Sunny.
“But that was too close,” said Red. “If she had found out…” Red shuddered despite the warming weather. There was a soulless monster hiding behind that pretty face, and Red didn’t want to ever face her without sufficient backup. The two suddenly jumped when a young man knocked on Red’s door. Red rolled down his window, recognizing him as one of the young men who had been talking with Beverly Grey and the other reporters.
“Um, hi, I’m Sandy Steele…”
Red and Sunny shared a look before Red turned back to him. “Uh, hi, nice to meet you. I’m Red, and this is Sunny.”
The young man nodded. “I know, we kinda overheard your conversation with Miss Scarlet.”
Red chuckled nervously. “Oh, right. Okay, and?”
Sandy ran his fingers through his hair. “And, um, Beverly…uh, Beverly Grey, was wondering if she could find out more about the summer’s activities?”
An idea hit Red. He knew Beverly Gray would strive to find out the truth. Could she become a valuable ally? “We don’t even know yet ourselves,” began Red slowly, “but, we can speak with Mr. Hughes about it. If he decides in favor of it, he might even invite her along.”
“Red!” hissed Sunny. Red glanced at Sunny, who was pointing at the clock. He wasn’t berating him for wanting to invite Beverly, he was letting him know that they had to hit the road.
Red turned back to Sandy. “Listen, Mr. Hughes will contact Miss Grey with further information. We’ve got to go.”
Sandy smiled. “Alright, well thanks for your time.”
“No problem.” Red rolled up the window and nodded at Sunny. Sunny put the car in gear and took off. Red let out a breath as they sped back towards Mr. Hughes’s mansion. He just hoped their boss wasn’t betting his life this summer to find out who wanted him dead.
[Red Randall is the grandson of Red Randall, the lead in the series of the same name from the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Connie and Kit are from the Connie Blair series, Violet Strange is from the Violet Strange Mysteries by Anna Katherine Green, Sandy Steele is from the Sandy Steele series, Beverly Gray is from the Beverly Gray series, Miss Scarlet is from the Clue game, and Mr. Hughes and Sunny are original characters.]