Page 23 of The Mermaid Murder

Then the clouds moved, and the world brightened. Shafts of sunlight spilled down onto us, chased each other up the flagstone path and illuminated the glorious stained-glass sidelights.

Facing each other in a blissful pose, heads lowered, eyes closed, holding lilies to their noses with their hair flowing behind them, were two beautiful stained-glass mermaids, one blonde, one brunette.

My heart tripped over itself in my chest. Mason put his arm around my shoulders and squeezed. “Steady.”

We walked through the stained-glass mermaid doors into large a darkened room. The walls were ebony wood with patches of stonework. The room was filled with dining tables. There were diners at many of them. The right wall held a long bar, and the very front of the room held a blue velvet curtain.

“Is that a stage? Is that a fucking stage?”

“It’s Misty,” Mason reminded me. “Come on.”

A beautiful young woman in a dress with blue and silver sequins that shimmered when she moved, greeted us with a smile and an armful of menus.

Yes! Inner Bitch cried. Food!

“Welcome to The Sapphire Club. Follow me.”

She led the way, shimmering. I caught up and tapped her shoulder. “Something in the back.” I pointed to a shadowy cove to the left. “Like that over there.”

“Oh, sure thing.” She shimmered in that direction and soon we were sliding into a half-circle booth with a full view of the stage. As she handed us the menus and said our server would be right over, I noticed there wasn’t a seat in the place without a full view of the stage. And then I noticed the crowd.

This was definitely not a strip-club sort of a crowd. What the hell was Misty doing? Stand-up?

Our waiter arrived. He was a freckle-faced redhead who wasn’t wearing a shirt, and he was jacked.

And suddenly it looks like a strip club again.

Shut up, Inner Bitch.

“I’m Malcolm and I’ll be taking care of you this evening. Can I start you off with an appetizer?”

“Is this a strip club?” I blurted.

“Whaaat?” His eyes were green. I noticed because they widened so much. “No!”

“Just checking. I’ll have the buffet,” I said, and handed it to the shocked and semi-nude waiter.

“Um… there’s no buffet.” He put the menu down in front of me. “I’ll come back.”

“No, don’t do that. I’m starved and I need a drink. Vodka Diet.” I’d tossed every trace of alcohol from our place in honor or Jeremy’s visit. We’d been a dry house for as long as he’d lived at home, but now that he was on his own, I kept a little stash around. “And appetizers…” I opened the menu, looked at it and pointed at a gigantic sampler platter. “That’s a start.”

“Beer,” Mason said. “Whatever’s on tap. And the pasta primavera looks good.”

“Make it two,” I said.

“Drinks and appetizer will be right out. We don’t serve during the show, which is going to start in ten minutes, so you get the rest right after. That okay?”

“Sure,” Mason said. I was going to blurt that I would die of starvation by then. He really was so much nicer than I.

A taller waiter with a shirt on brought our drinks almost instantly, the appetizers minutes later. We took our time with them as I checked every table, every server, the bartender, the bussers, but there was no sign of Misty. If she worked there, she either worked in the kitchen or on that stage.

Halfway through the appetizers, the lights flashed on, then off, then on, then off entirely. The room was completely dark, and the curtains rose in slow-mo. The crowd went quiet, and you could feel the anticipation that slow-rising drape was causing. Ethereal music came up. I glimpsed something behind the curtain. Blue. Wavy. Water?

A fish tank, Inner Bitch said. Like the one the mermaid was in.

A huge tank of water stretched across the front of the room.

The lights within came on, and there was a collective gasp as an underwater paradise was illuminated before our eyes. Giant sea plants, some with huge blooms, swayed in the currents, boulders and corals created a landscape with hills and valleys in miniature.

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