Pop Travel Read Online Free PDF

He had to keep working to pay that deviant ex-wife of his!” she exclaimed. Her eyes pooled and threatened to overflow. She grabbed some tissues.
    “Now, Jean. I really don’t think he is with her. He—”
    “I know he isn’t. She’s dead.” She sniffed.
    “Really?” he asked, surprised. “What happened?”
    “She came in looking for him right after he disappeared, demanding to know where he was. She needed her damn money! Then, a week later, she turned up floating in Lake Okeechobee. The police blamed Moe for it. There’s a warrant out for his arrest, but I know it had to be someone else who took care of her. I can’t believe he had anything to do with it.” She paused to lean in and whispered, “I left some messages for him. I said I would help him, but he won’t contact me. He’d rather hide out alone than risk getting me in trouble. He’s so valiant, not wanting to get me involved.”
    She sighed and honked her nose.
    Dead?
Fabricating rumors to mislead snooping relatives and average investigators was one thing, but murdering innocent people took the case to a whole other level. Surely, this was not true. The more he thought about it, the more he would love to prove a glitch in pop travel existed and show everyone he was right about not trusting it. But then again, maybe he shouldn’t get involved. He didn’t want to have an accident happen to him. Or worse, to Dawson.
    “I apologize for bringing back painful memories, Jean. You’ve been a great help. I do have one last question. Did anyone else interview you besides the police?”
    She tapped her chin and looked off to the side before she answered.
    “Yes. A pair of detectives in black suits. They reminded me of those old movies,
Men in Black
. But I guess they didn’t erase my memory because I remember them.” Sniff.
    Cooper remembered
Men in Black
as one of the few old movies he had been able to sit through with Kristen. She had been a 2D film buff.
    “Did they say who they worked for?”
    “They flashed badges at me, but I can’t recall who they worked for. One of the guys was tall and Caucasian and I think the other was a few inches shorter and Indian. You know, from India.”
    “Sure. Thank you, Jean, for your time.”
    “Of course. I hope you find him. Please call me if you do. You seem intelligent. No one wanted to hear much about him. They were more interested in what I knew and were in a hurry to leave.” Putting on a smile, she sighed and let her shoulders sag. At least Cooper helped her get some of that off her chest.
    “Sure thing.” He gave her a warm smile back.
    After calling a few more offices and confirming his findings, Cooper groaned. He didn’t believe in coincidence.
What happened to all these people?
    Obviously, Pop Travel International would have the most to lose if there was a problem. When he had researched the company, most of the articles praised PTI and its breakthrough technology. The Creator, young genius Hasan Rakhi, started out as an ordinary kid at Georgia Tech, a bioelectrical engineering major. Lucrative, recently laid-off, manufacturing executives approached him with enticing offers of fame and fortune. Together, they formed Pop Travel International.
    Other articles explained how to use pop travel, giving recommendations on preparing for a pop and making elaborate claims of its ease and safety. Cooper even came across a couple of advertisements encouraging the public to install convenient, personal platforms in their own homes. And it cost only about half the price of their house. What a deal.
    Other than Rakhi’s association with the company, Cooper had no luck finding useful information about the Creator. No mention of his history, friends, or relatives. Fan comments and party pictures covered his public Meme site. Not that this surprised him. PTI kept the Creator’s appearances light and told the public as little as possible, to protect its investment.
    Cooper checked the gossip ezine articles.