Chapter 1: Trespasser

I looked again at the school ID cards the two youngsters had proffered. The elder, their cards revealed, was 13-year-old Marcy Silvers, and the younger was her little sister, 9-year-old Melissa, students in the King County school system. Both were honey-blond, cute, and athletic for their respective ages. Both still had some charming baby fat, as befitted someone of their tender years. Both were also quite nude, the better to blend in with the others enjoying this first Sunday of Spring Break week at Barracuda Beach Naturist Resort.

Three things had set them apart. First, the tan lines. The other kids here were regulars at resorts which preferred you to wander around dressed in nature's swimsuits, and so had none, whereas both of the Silvers had what we refer to as a "cottontail", where a swimsuit had prevented the tanning rays of the sun to linger. Second, they were friends with none of the kids their own age who were present this Sunday at Barracuda Beach Naturist Resort, and had no responsible adult anywhere we could identify. And third, young Miss Marcy Silvers had a serious case of body consciousness that a naturist kid her age would have lacked. It took maybe five minutes for both to be metaphorically unmasked.

Both had tried to avoid being the centre of attention, especially Marcy. Both were now standing smack dab at the centre of the Resort club room, surrounded by equally nude adults who were paying them all too much attention, especially Marcy.

"And so you decided to sneak in under the fence on the north side?" I quizzed, staring Marcy right in her terrified eyes.

She nodded, her heart clearly residing in her throat.

"And at that time you did damage to the privacy fence..."

She blushed and looked at the floor, clearly hoping that it would swallow her up. No such luck.

"And in what drug-induced hallucination did this even vaguely appear to be a good idea?"

She stood there quietly while her younger sibling sniffled beside her.

I ignored the younger girl. "Marcy," I reminded the elder, my voice steely, "I asked a question. I expect an answer."

Head still tilted downward, her eyes regarded me apprehensively. She was still too terrified to respond.

"Were you just curious to see if we really had barracuda on our beach?" I suggested, stalactites of sarcasm dripping from every syllable. Marcy kept searching frantically for someplace to rest her eyes in the vast room. Every time those eyes lit upon genitalia, either male or female, they jerked away.

"Well, enough of this nonsense. Who do we call about our two little trespassers?" I asked rhetorically.

"You could call the sheriff," Sheriff Fernandez mischievously suggested from his perch at a nearby table. "I'm sure he could get someone out here right quick." Neither Marcy nor Melissa recognized him, sitting there next to his equally out-of-uniform daughter, Deputy Alicia Fernandez.

"You're not helping," I advised him loudly as I struggled to suppress a smile. "How about your mother? What would she say?"

"O God," Marcy pleaded, clearly panicking, "don't call her, she'll KILL me!!"

"It speaks," I noted dryly of my comely captive, our audience cracking up at my bon mot. I turned back to the cute little fly caught in a web of prying eyes. "Having her kill you would be a good lesson for any future trespassing vandals. Tempting thought. Very tempting."

"But you can't call my mother, you don't have her phone number!" Marcy realized triumphantly.

"It's 555-4935," a small voice piped up.

Marcy stood there, mouth agape, once again looking at me in dismay.

"Why thank you, Miss Melissa," I complemented the younger sibling approvingly. "Very polite of you."

"Yes, thanks, Mel," added Marcy through gritted teeth. "Very polite of you."

I gestured to my head waitress, Shelly. "Take Miss Melissa to the take-out stand, get her some ice cream."

Marcy tried to build up some outrage. "Bribery?"

I shrugged. "Honesty should be rewarded. Now, about what exactly possessed you to come here?"

Marcy glanced with worry at the departing forms of Melissa and Shelly, then turned to me. Pouting, she declared, "Because I know you're a bunch of perverts."

"Yes, that makes sense," I agreed. "I'm going to bring my innocent little sister with me to a den of iniquity. That would keep her safe and sound. Do you take her with you when you visit biker bars, too?" I rubbed my forehead.

"I didn't ask her to tag along," Marcy responded defensively. "I just wanted to get the evidence I needed to shut you down and then get out of there. I'm supposed to be looking after her."

"And you're doing a fine job of babysitting," I reassured her. "OK ... Oh boy." I picked up my cell phone and started dialling.

"You're calling in reinforcements to do not-nice things to my nubile young body!" Marcy deduced, horrified – and not a little excited.

"Yes, specifically your mother. Should I tell her what a pervert her daughter is? 'Not-nice things' indeed." I sniffed in disgust, mostly to hide my amusement. The youngster had obviously been reading the kind of literature that school libraries tend to avoid.

"I'd rather you called the sheriff." Marcy bit her lip anxiously.

"Sheriff," I said conversationally.

"Right here," Sheriff Fernandez responded, equally calmly. "You want me to send a deputy?"

Marcy, eyes like dinner plates, shot a glance at the naked Sheriff.

"You may have to. I have a trespasser."

He gestured to his identically clad daughter. "Deputy Fernandez, this call is all yours."

Marcy started doing a superb imitation of a gaffed fish, struggling to find words. Alicia waved in a friendly manner at the young miscreant.

"Ah, Mrs. Silvers? This is Paul Jackman, proprietor of Barracuda Beach Naturist Resort. Yes, that resort. I have here a Miss Marcy Silvers and a Miss Melissa Silvers. Yes, now that you mention it, they both are."

Marcy returned her terrified gaze upon me.

"Yes, if you would be so kind. Oh, and there's the little matter of repairs to the fence they broke through to illicitly gain access to our grounds. It will, I'm certain, prove more costly than day fees."

She paled noticeably.

"I would be amenable to discussing that. Oh, yes, you should do that."

"She should do what?" Marcy asked worriedly.