“So what’s up with Adam lately?” Jess asked.
“I know. He seems distracted and cranky,” I agreed.
“He might just be a little stressed out,” Braden offered. “Mark mentioned that he wasn’t going out as much lately for some reason, so I guess he’s not unwinding a lot.” That would make sense. Adam was cranky because he wasn’t getting laid. The question was why.
“Maybe he needs a vacation,” Cam suggested.
“Oh wait! I almost forgot,” I said excitedly, sitting up and dashing into the other room. I came back holding the Metro, a little free newspaper that people picked up from stacks all over the city. “Look!” I handed the paper to Jess and she looked at the page I had opened it to.
“September is a popular month at Overbrook Lodge,” she read and then started skimming the article. “On the 28th of this month every year they have a conference for a group called The Truth Seekers. It says that ‘some may call them conspiracy theorists but they consider themselves people who have opened their minds to the fact that not everything is as it seems. They are most well known for their belief that politicians and powerful businessmen have been working together for decades to cover up evidence of extraterrestrial visitation’.” She read silently again for a moment and then summarized. “A flying saucer was allegedly spotted near there one September back in the forties and the aliens supposedly made contact and said they would return on that day in … ‘an upcoming year’,” she said.
“Well, that narrows it down,” Braden said with a laugh.
“Did you hear that? This is a group of local conspiracy theorists who specifically think that politicians and businessmen are working together to cover up the truth about UFO’s!” I looked around at the faces staring back at me blankly. Okay, they weren’t getting it.
“So?” Cameron asked finally.
“Politicians and businessmen. Working together. Conspiracy theorists?” Did I have to spell it out? How much clearer could it be? “Look, Braden and I both feel like someone is following us and watching us, and it’s gotten worse since our parents announced our engagement. Felicity said that someone was threatened by the idea of our fathers working together. I think maybe this guy may be a Truth Seeker!”
“What would he hope to gain by following you?” Cam asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe he thinks we’ll slip up and show him where the alien autopsies are done. These people have their own sense of reality.”
“Okay, so say you’re right and whoever is following you is part of this group. What are you going to do about it?” Jess asked.
“We’re going to go and confront him once and for all,” I answered emphatically.
“We?” Jess asked, looking like she already knew the answer to that question.
“Well, I think we should all go but you don’t have to, of course. It could be a fun trip though! It’s out in rural Bucks County, PA.”
“Oh perfect,” Braden said. “Out in the middle of the woods with UFO enthusiasts. Maybe we should save that trip for our honeymoon, sweetheart.”
“Gabrielle, don’t you think that maybe this is pretty far-fetched?” Jess asked. “I mean, just because these people are conspiracy theorists, and Felicity may have been warning you to watch out for conspiracy theorists …”
“And they believe that businessmen, like my father, and politicians, like Braden’s father, are plotting together. And someone is following me and it’s starting to drive me nuts,” I answered, feeling exasperated. “I don’t have any other ideas, Jess. I’m desperate, and anything seems worth a shot. It’s pretty late notice, though. I wonder if they’re booked up.”
“Somehow I doubt it,” Cam said.
“So what do we need?” I asked, going over and firing up my laptop. “A bedroom for you guys and one for us and we’ll need to take Adam or Mark or both.”
“What would possibly make you think they would be willing to go to a gathering of UFO Enthusiasts in rural Bucks County?” Cam asked me.
“Yeah, I’m not sure I’m willing to go to this,” Braden added.
“Aren’t you curious?” I asked him.
“About what? Felicity’s conspiracy theorist, or whether the Mother-ship will finally be returning this year?” Braden asked with a smile.
“Both,” I said. “Come on, it’ll be fun. Oh hey! It says there’s also legends about ghosts at the Lodge! This place is haunted!”
“Oh great!” Braden laughed. “This just gets better and better.”
“Is Jack Nicholson the caretaker?” Cam asked, which made Braden crack up even more.
“That hotel was called the Overlook,” I pointed out. Although I had to admit that in the picture I was looking at it did resemble the hotel in The Shining a little.
“Gabrielle, not to rain on your parade, honey,” Jess said, “but if there really is a conspiracy theorist, who isn’t too psyched about your wedding plans, couldn’t it be dangerous to go hang out with him in the middle of the woods?”
“Yeah, if there really is some crazy guy watching you and following you around maybe it’s not a great idea to go socialize with him and all of his friends.”
“And what are we going to do if we find him, Gabrielle?” Braden asked. “Ask him to take us to his leader? Cross-examine him?”
“I’m tired of us being spied on and followed, honey. I want to confront this guy once and for all and tell him to leave us the hell alone. We’ll tell him that our dads aren’t hiding any spaceships or little green men so he should go find Elvis or something instead.”
“You should be excited, Braden!” Jess teased. “You’ve never been included in one of Gabrielle’s crazy schemes before. Well, other than Club 51, and that was tame by her standards.”
“Yeah, wait, is Ricky allowed to come along on Lucy’s adventures?” Cam asked.
“Are Fred and Ethel definitely coming?” Braden asked.
“We wouldn’t miss it, honey.” Jess laughed. “I want to see a UFO!”
“I’m just in it for the ghosts,” Cam said.
“Hey wait,” Braden said looking at me, “hotel sex. Okay, I’m in.”
“So we definitely need at least three rooms then, maybe four.”