The Lost Summer

By Ernie Moulton

George Mictackic leads an investigative group and they decide to take a summer break and visit an island off the coast of Nicaragua for a vacation. Before they could leave, for the island, they are surprised by an intruder who happens to be wanted for murder. Then on the road, a semi-truck clips the car causing a crash, and everyone in the car i

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Regency Publishers, US
• Release date: Mar 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9781957724843

Book preview

Prologue

On a scorching Saturday afternoon in July, George Mictackic, better known as Mista, stood up from his desk and walked to the windows, looking out over his back yard. He could hear his girls playing in the pool and watched them for a few minutes. He thought briefly about joining them, but discarded the idea. He had work to do and had promised his wife that he would get something substantial done on his book. He wanted to write a book on ethics that would speak to the modern mind, especially the youth of today. But it went slowly.

The house was quiet and cool, compared to the blazing Florida afternoon outside. Two of his buddies should be on the way back from Atlanta with reward money in hand. Several states plus the FBI had offered substantial rewards for information leading to the arrest of a man wanted in these states for trafficking in underage prostitution. He had gone one better, actually capturing the man in Mexico and arranging extradition back to the states.

His wife was out, which was unusual for several reasons. She rarely went out unless she was with him, and when she did, she always told him where she was going. Today, however, she had not told him. And, she was dressed casually, in a summer sun dress and sandals. Sharra always wore dresses and heels, even at home. So he had to wonder why the change. He had asked her, but she avoided an answer, which was also unusual. She was not normally secretive and answered his questions directly. But not this time. She had a meeting, one of several. She was involved in a project that would take some time. She would tell him all about it when it was done.

Mista frowned. Why would she not tell him? What else was she not telling him? Some men might think that their wives had found an outside interest, but Mista did not. Sharra had grown up distrusting all men. It had taken years for their courtship to develop into marriage and she had never shown interest in any other man. True, she had been somewhat distant in the last year or so, saying that he spent too much time with his girls. Maybe he did. Had he forced her to look elsewhere for companionship? Surely, not.

He walked out of his office and back to the kitchen and looked out at the back yard, watching the girls playing in the pool. Five girls. He shook his head. Sometimes he wondered if he were crazy. His own daughter, Samantha, would be eight this summer, and he had temporary custody of a thirteen-year-old girl named Crystal. Then three girls that he had adopted five years ago when they were eleven and twelve.

It was the older girls that concerned his wife and strained their relationship. She had been fully cooperative when they had first adopted the girls, but as the girls grew into their teen years, she had become jealous. Mista realized that part of that was natural, she was growing older and the girls had developed into very pretty girls.

They had all been homeless and had never known a father. Mista had shown love and care and they had responded, demanding all his time, each competing for a larger share of his time and attention, each wanting to be the prettiest in his eyes. Even Janice who had been all arms and legs until this summer, when she began to fill out some.

Mista had told his wife that she had no worries about losing his love. Yes, the girls were pretty, but he had not married her for her beauty. Although she was not unattractive, and he had reminded her of that. Perhaps just saying that she was not unattractive was not enough. Maybe he should have told her that she was the beauty of his eye. But, he had chosen to be honest. There were many things that he loved her for, but beauty was not one of them. She was not unattractive, but was not beautiful. Slim frame, dark complexion, straight black hair and black eyes set deep in her face. Maybe women wanted to be told that they were beautiful even when they weren’t. He was a philosopher, but did not know much about women.

Well, he would commit to spending more time with her, and would try to find a way to tell her that she was beautiful in his eyes, even if it were not exactly true.

He really should get back to work, but was not in the mood for it. He opened the door and walked out on the patio.

Daddy! Robin called. Come on in.

I’m not exactly dressed for swimming.

So? Since when does that matter?

Not today. Anybody want to go fishing?

Yeah, yeah! they all chorused.

Can we go out to one of the islands and explore? Robin asked.

Crystal said, I don’t want to go to the islands. But I would like to go fishing.

Come on, Candy said. It’s not really scary. Besides, if you face your fears, you’ll get over them sooner.

The older girls had stumbled on Crystal a year ago as she was being buried alive on one of the islands. They had rescued her and taken her into the family, and then later the courts had assigned Mista temporary custody. She had grown up fearing her own father and had never bonded with Mista, afraid that he would turn out to be just like her father.

She looked at Candy with big eyes. Will you stay right with me?

Sure. We’ll chase the bougers away.

Robin said, Can we go like this?

No. Put some clothes on, please. Sun’s too hot to sit out on the water like that.

Chapter 1

Going fishing

Mista’s phone rang while the girls were upstairs changing. He could still hear them arguing when he went into his office to talk.

Candy said, You’re going to wear a dress fishing? Why?

Cause I like to. It’s my favorite dress to go wading.

We’re not going wading, we’re going fishing.

We might. We have to jump in to pull the boat up on the shore at the islands.

But why a dress? Why not shorts. You’re weird.

"Because, wearing shorts is too … uh ..

Janice said, Normal. And normal you’re not.

Mista closed his door and said, Hey, Misch. I can hear you now. The girls were in one of their arguing moods.

Hah. Glad they’re yours and not mine. Anyway, we’re on our way back. Might make it tonight, or might sleep over somewhere. We’ve got two checks, one from the FBI and one from Georgia. And a contact number for Texas. They’ll wire it to the bank of your choice. I’m ready to take off for a while. Go to your island and hunt for treasure if that’s what you still want to do.

Yes, I was just thinking about that. I need to relax some too.

Well, we took a side trip and visited a couple of mining companies to ask about explosives. They suggested that we go to a company in Nicaragua and hire one of their men for the job. Said we could learn a lot by reading, but nothing is like working with the explosives to complete your education and skills.

Yeah. Sounds good to me. I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt. We’ll have to worry about security – we don’t want word to get out what we’re doing.

Right. But it probably will anyway. I don’t know how we could keep it secret.

Well, at least we don’t want media attention on it. See you when you get here. Mista closed the phone and stood up. Time to make good on his promise to take the girls fishing.

Dressed in shorts and a golf shirt and boat shoes, he found six girls waiting on the dock. Three girls in their late teens had been with the family five years now. Crystal was twelve or thirteen and temporary, as far as he know. She had been assigned by the courts when her father died and her mother was unable to care for her. Then his own daughter of seven, Samantha. She had been born with cerebral palsy, but with a great deal of therapy and some healing from her oldest sister, a neurosurgeon, she appeared nearly normal. She still had to be careful, although she wanted to do everything the older girls did. Mista required her to wear a life vest. And Tilly, Mischal’s daughter a few months older than Samantha, wanted to tag along.

Well, first we need bait. We can catch fiddlers, seine for minnows or try to dig up some worms.

I’ll catch some fiddlers, Daddy, Robin said.

Yuk! Better you than me, Candy said. I’ll seine for minnows. Help me, Crystal?

Yeah.

Fiddler crabs were running all over the shore of the bay behind their house and it didn’t take long to catch a couple dozen. Candy was not so lucky and found herself wading out into the muddy bay waters to find a school of minnows. Crystal thought it was great fun.

Mista picked up a large fiddler and showed it to Crystal. Would you like one of these for a pet?

She put her hands behind her back and stepped backwards. NO! Why is one claw so much bigger than the other?

Can’t answer that one. But I can tell you that that’s why they call them fiddlers. See how they hold a claw in front, kind of like a fiddle? They use it to attract females when mating, and sometimes you can see them fighting with that giant claw. Well, let’s go fishing.

Mista stopped at the boat and rubbed his chin. Mmmm. I think we have a problem. We don’t have room for everyone in that boat. I guess I’ll have to tie a line to somebody and drag them along behind the boat.

Dad! Janice said. We can all get in there. And you certainly can’t drag us behind the boat!

Well … get in and let’s see. Be sure you spread out good so you don’t tip the boat over.

Robin said, Hah! You’re the only heavy person here. So there.

Chapter 2

Exploring the island

They visited several spots that Mista knew to be good for sheepshead, but had little luck. At the third spot, Robin said, I’m burning. Let’s go out to that island and rest.

Crystal was ignoring her pole and leaning over the side, looking into the water. Look! There are some fish down there. Why aren’t they biting?

Mista shaded his eyes and looked. Those are mullet. You can’t catch them.

Why not?

I don’t really know. I’ve heard people do catch them, but I’ve never been able to. Maybe they just aren’t fooled by bait. The way to get them is to use a casting net. Throw some bread out on the water, and they’ll come up to feed. Then throw the net over them and pull them in.

That’s a lot of work, Robin said.

Yes, but it’s worth it. Look, we don’t have enough for a mess. Let’s freeze these and get more later. I’ll go out and get some smoked mullet for supper. Okay?

Right. Can we go to the island, now? Robin asked.

Sure, why not.

Robin jumped out in waist-deep water to pull the boat up to the shore and then the other girls jumped in to help drag it up onto the sandy beach.

Mista waited to get out until they had beached the boat. Thanks for letting me stay dry.

Candy said, We didn’t do it to keep you dry. Come on, Janice. Each grabbed on arm and forced Mista out into the water.

You could have let me take my shoes off first.

Dad, they’re boat shoes. They’ll dry.

Mista stretched out on the beach to doze and let the sun dry his clothes while the girls set off to explore the island. Like all the border islets, it was only about 200 yards across, covered with palmetto palms and a few scrub trees. They didn’t expect to find much, but they always liked to look.

Crystal sat down near Mista to wait.

Candy called, Come on, Crystal. It’s safe with us.

She shook her head. No. I’ll stay here.

I thought you didn’t like Dad.

She looked over at Mista. I like him, I guess. I’m just … I don’t want to go on the island. The older girls had happened to come to one of the islands just when she was being buried alive. They had rescued her, but she never got over her fear of the islands.

Okay. Your choice.

Mista waited a minute and then said, You know, Crystal, you’ve been with us about a year, right?

Yeah.

Anything bad happen to you?

No… but it could.

Not if I can prevent it. One, I can guarantee you that nobody in the family will hurt you in any way.

Yeah. Everybody’s been nice so far.

I know you have been through a terrible time, but that’s all past. I doubt if you’ll ever really get over it, but I do want you to know that not all men are like your father.

You don’t know what it was like.

No, of course not. I can only imagine. Meanwhile, we’ll do our best to make sure it never happens again. Of course, I can’t know everything in the future. Right now, it’s just a temporary assignment. The courts could assign you to someone else, or send you home. I could adopt you and make it permanent, if you want to. But, I won’t try to force you. We’ll take things as they come.

I don’t think I want to be adopted. It would be good to know that I have a real home, though.

Well, that’s up to you. No one will try to force you. I think, though, that we need to do something to make you a real part of the family.

I … I want to be, but … then I don’t. I don’t know.

You’ll be lonely unless you open up some. Listen to the other girls. They were afraid at first, but as they got to know each other they became real friends.

Yeah. I don’t have any friends.

We all want to be friends, but we can’t make you be friends.

Would I have to sit on your lap, like Robin does?

Mista laughed. No. That’s not required. All the girls used to, when they were younger, but you notice that Janice and Candy don’t do that anymore.

I just …

I’m not forgetting that you had some really bad times. That’s not going to happen here.

I know. You say that, and I want to believe you, but like… Sometimes when I see you looking at me, I worry that …

It’s all right. I’m only wondering how to reach you and assure you that you are safe now.

I know. But, my father used to do that. He’d look at me and then talk all sweet and nice and then … she shuddered. The first time I was really surprised and didn’t know what to do. After that, when he got all lovey I was scared.

Yes, and you’ll probably never lose all that fear. But you should try. I promise you, it won’t happen here. Not all men are like your father. On the other hand, many men are. You need to learn to tell the difference. Try really hard to get over your fear.

I will. It’d be nice to have a family. Maybe Mom will want to take me back, though.

You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Maybe she will.

Crystal sighed. Maybe. She tried to protect me, you know.

I know. Well, you’ve seen a little of what we do, working for the police. Don’t forget, no one must ever know what we do. We work in secret to find the bad guys, and if it ever gets out, then we won’t be able to keep doing that. Okay.

Yes, I know.

Now, sometimes that puts us in danger. We do our best to protect all the girls, but sometimes things happen. So if you don’t want to go with us on any mission, I’ll find a safe place for you to stay.

Like before, with Aunt Molly?

Like that. Or my sister, Sheila. You like Molly?

Yes, she’s nice. But I guess I really should go with everyone when you go. I’ll try to go.

That’s entirely up to you. No one is trying to make you go. How about the trip to the Caribbean island this summer. You do want to go there, don’t you?

Yes. That sounds like fun.

Just then, the girls came running back. Come on, Crystal, let’s go look for shells on the beach. Sometimes we find a really nice one.

Wait, Robin said. Can we bury you in the sand, Daddy?

Do your worst.

Crystal covered her mouth. You’re going to bury your daddy?

Robin laughed. Not really. Just cover him with sand. Come on, it’s fun.

Everyone but Crystal heaped sand on him. Candy said, See? Now we can go look for shells and he can’t even see us.

Mista dozed while half listening to the girls. Their voices faded as they walked around the rim of the island and then grew strong again. Mista woke and sat up, shaking off the sand.

Robin was in the water of course, looking for minnows while the other girls stood on the beach watching.

Chapter 3

Looking to the future

Janice came over and sat beside him. What are you thinking about, Dad?

I was just thinking that this is the last summer we’ll have like this. Maybe I should put my foot down and make you girls toe the line while I still can. Once you’re gone, I can’t make you behave anymore.

"Dad, you always said you didn’t want to make us behave. Besides, you didn’t really need to. We haven’t been bad."

Mista sighed. No, you’re right. My job was to teach you right and wrong and hope you would do right because it was the right thing to do, not because I might be watching with a stick behind my back. At this point, either I’ve succeeded or failed. Time will tell.

You don’t have to worry about us, Dad. Even Candy finally has her head on straight. And Robin will never grow up. Look at her, sitting out in the water playing with minnows.

She’ll grow up one day.

Sure she will. Look, she’s got her dress pulled up to her waist.

Not that high. She’s not showing anything. Anyway, maybe she’s wearing her swim suit under it.

"Robin? Not likely. Swim suits are supposed to get wet. No, nothing is showing now, and if she ever did show her underwear she’d die. If she knew. She’s just too careless."

Let her be. Once she grows up maybe she’ll grow out of her love of wetness.

Yeah. When she finally figures out what boys are all about, watch out.

Mista shrugged. She’ll do what she will do.

Crystal said, Uh, Father … Daddy … I don’t know what to call you.

We used to call him Uncle Mista when we first came, Janice said. Before he adopted us.

Is that all right? Crystal said.

Sure. Call me whatever is comfortable for you. Just don’t be formal and call me Mr. Mictackic.

She grinned. Okay. Uncle Mista, can I go in the water?

Do you have a swim suit with you?

No. Do I have to take off my clothes?

Mista said, Honey, you don’t ever have to take off your clothes in front of me. Go play in the water if you want to. Your clothes will dry.

Candy came up and sat on the other side, took her shoes off and poured the water out and set them aside to dry. Talking about Mom?

No, why?

Just wondered. Where is she, anyway? Off on some mysterious journey?

Janice said, This is a serious conversation. Wait your turn.

So is my question. Where is she?

Janice said, Dad, once we are adult and on our own, you aren’t responsible for us any more, right?

That’s true. I’ve been encouraging you to make your own decisions for a while, now. But I guess I’ll always feel responsible for how you turn out, even when you are adult.

No you aren’t. You’ve done all you can, and a girl couldn’t have a better dad. But if your training doesn’t take, it’s not your fault. We’re just being stupid.

He already told me that and I told him the same thing down in Mexico.

Mista looked from one to the other. I’m sure you girls will be fine and will make me proud. If you don’t … I’ll always feel that I’ve failed somewhere; something I could have done better or different.

Nope, Candy said. I told you that we are responsible for our decisions and we pay the consequences if we mess up. You’ve been perfect.

Still…

You don’t have to worry about me. I’m going straight.

Candy looked down. She knew that Janice was straight arrow, but she did not know how she would stand up to temptations. Her face turned slightly red. I’ll do the best I can, Dad, but you know I can’t always resist. I promise to do my best. Now -- what about Mom?

I don’t know where she went. She didn’t tell me. But, hey, she’s a grown person, not a prisoner. She can go where she wants to whenever she wants.

Legally, yes, but doesn’t she always tell you?

Usually, yes. But not this time.

That’s not like her, Candy said. You think she’s having an affair?

Candy! Janice said. That’s not something Mom would do.

Well, you have to admit, it’s strange. She’s been kind of quiet and withdrawn lately. I mean, she really came through for me in Mexico in a big way. But …

I don’t think she’s having an affair, Mista said. It’s a little odd, but that’s not like her. She’ll tell us when she’s ready. Meanwhile, I think it’s time we went home.

Chapter 4

Sharra gets counseling

Sharra did not tell anyone where she was going except Jasmine, and she swore her to secrecy. She was keeping her promise to Jasmine to see a counselor and try to work out her problems, but she did not want Mista or the girls to know until and unless it was successful. She would tell them if the counseling was successful, but if not, then they would not need to know.

Mike Gernsted was about 50, a quiet man with mostly gray hair. She sat on the edge of her chair in his office, clearly nervous. She did not like to talk about herself, especially with a stranger.

He quickly put her at ease. I will help you in any way that I can, but first I want you to sign a contract. I cannot fix any problem that you may have. Only you can fix it. We can talk about it and I can help guide you to a solution, but you are the only one who can actually solve any problem that you may have. I do not record sessions, but I do take notes. During the week, I will review my notes and have some suggestions ready for you if you choose to return. Anything you say in this office is sealed. Not even a court can access your records.

Okay. I don’t know where to start.

First let’s get a history on you. Where did you grow up, what was your family life like.

The first hour was taken with her basic history, the fact that her father had been murdered when she was six, that she had discovered this years later, that her stepfather was abusive, and that her mother would not believe her. So she had made her mark in the business world, a man’s world, and had never intended to marry. Then she met Mista.

Do you still work in the business world?

No, not really. I’m at home, now.

Do you think you could still hold your own in that world?

No doubt.

But maybe you don’t feel secure as a person on a one to one basis?

I guess that’s true.

Are you subservient at home?

No, not really. I mean, Mista runs the house, but he treats me as an equal.

I suggest you do something to exert your independence. Get an outside activity, buy new clothes, set up a bank account. Anything that will build your own self-confidence in yourself as a person. And do something to make yourself relax. You’re wound pretty tight.

Okay. I’ll think about it.

Next week?

Yes. Saturday afternoon?

Fine. See you then.

Sharra thought about his suggestions as she drove home. Maybe she was wound too tight. Maybe her habit of wearing dresses and high heels at home was too much. Maybe she should relax the rule to dress for dinner. She knew the girls hated it. Mista never said, but she thought he didn’t really like it. That would be a start. New clothes? Less formal?

She decided to stop at a steak house and treat herself to a steak dinner. After dinner, she went shopping, buying casual clothes. After all, they were going to the island this summer.

Sharra drove up to the house a few minutes after Mista returned with their supper, gathered her bags and went inside.

Mista met her at the front door. Just in time for supper.

I’ve already eaten, thanks. Is that all right? Why did I say that? Why wouldn’t it be all right?

Sure. I bought some smoked mullet. There’s plenty if you want some.

Thanks, but no thanks.

Mista looked her up and