Minnie Chase Makes a Mistake by Helen MacArthur

Wedding Of The Year Off?’ hollered the headlines. 
    The business world had its views too. CEO illness was now a huge talking point. Some suggested that Greene should have taken a pre-emptive strike and spoken out about his health problems to control the situation while others insisted he was entitled to a private life. Greene Inc stock prices that were still dropping suggested otherwise. 
    Minnie got the distinct impression that rich and handsome individuals with access to enormous wealth and great doctors weren’t supposed to be inconvenienced by health troubles. She sensed a degree of fear too. After all, if the Great Greene with his good looks and immense wealth couldn’t fight an illness with all the resources at his fingertips what hope in hell was there for ordinary people? 
    Then came the backlash suggesting that Greene had got what he deserved; to be taken down a peg or two because no one is allowed to have it all – something’s got to give.
    It was also duly noted that the average age of onset Parkinson’s is 60. Ashton Greene was 39, which set people off in yet another spin. The general opinion was that his life was over before he had even reached 40. He had been written off and no one was going to get a happy ending. How Hollywood would handle this version of the script, Minnie had no idea.
    The embarrassingly clear capture of Minnie’s conversation with Greene at The Savoy had received over two million unique hits online to date. Minnie had expected lawyers at Greene Inc to strike back but, as far as she knew, no one had filed a complaint about the privacy-invading YouTube video. The three-minute footage just kept clicking up the hits.
    No wonder Greene had gone to ground.
    Parker Bachmann, on the other hand, last seen in London, resurfaced in San Francisco to comment on her version of events. She announced through the official City Hall website that she had returned immediately to the States to deal with an urgent health bill crisis. Such was her commitment to the people of San Francisco and her public position that she had she had put her role as mayor before her pressing personal issues. No further comment. There was, however, no mention of her fiancé nor the ‘wedding of the year’, as her public relations team had previously liked to call it. 
    Minnie surfed news and gossip sites in mounting despair. She had unleashed a beast that would not go back in its cage. She wanted to cut her tongue out as punishment. Stupid, stupid, stupid , she cursed. 
    Until the horror moment at The Savoy, Minnie had built up a decent professional relationship with Greene. He never communicated with her directly but she had been accepted into his inner circle at work. Now she had crumbled that trust into pieces and thrown them for the vultures to feast on.
    It seemed that no one could find Greene and no one from his administration was talking. The media wanted an official confirmation: did Greene have Parkinson’s or not? But the question was met with an orchestrated shut-down; the silence was impenetrable.
    Perhaps, thought Minnie, when you are rich enough it is possible to disappear forever without a trace . 
    Sarah-Jane appeared at her elbow with yet more coffee and a smile.
     
    Keep it simple, stupid, Minnie muttered over and over between mouthfuls of scalding hot coffee. 
    Tempting as it was to pretend to be a tourist with no other mission than to explore San Francisco, Minnie knew it was time to start work on finding the missing Greene. She headed back to the motel stopping off at a convenience store to pick up bottled water and a bag of salted peanuts for later. She needed to stock up on snacks she could count, she would then be able to eat and to keep her head focused whenever her thoughts started to wander. 
    On impulse, she added a copy of Surfing Magazine to her purchases. This made her smile for the first time since landing in San Francisco. Perhaps Jackson had used his subliminal powers to recruit