Page 28 of All You Want
“Watch out!” Linx screams.
Something cold and sticky pours all over me, blinding me and wetting me all over. I slip on the wet slick of coppery-smelling liquid. A salty tang smears over my lips, and I scream, tasting blood.
My feet shoot out from beneath me at the same time the black cat leaps over me and streaks up the stairs. My arms windmill, grasping for the doorframe, but I land smack on my big butt.
Flashes of metal swish around me, and I’m sure I’m getting cut up by a million knives. White blobs circle my visual field, and an ominous chill freezes my skin to the bones.
“Linx, Linx, run!” I scream while fending off the axe-murderer ghost, Pickaxe Polly, whose gruesome laughter keens and echoes through the empty hall.
* * *
~ Todd ~
Can this evening get worse?
Not only am I stood up by Torrential Tami, I can’t even reach Shane who’s supposed to be on duty tonight. I guess I should count myself lucky that Tami stood me up. It’s not like I can have a proper date or make out session when I’m the sole responsible policeman who has to respond at a moment’s notice.
I’m starving since I burned the TV dinner, and I have nothing else in my refrigerator. The diner is crowded when I drive by with people waiting outside. So I head over to the Sixty Miners Saloon to get one of their Giant Buffalo cheeseburgers, a side of Cajun onion rings, and a jumbo chocolate milk shake.
It's going to be a long night. At least, fire season is almost over, and temperatures are dropping. Winter weather will start soon, and after Spooky Fest, the town will go into hibernation.
The bar’s new owner, Paul McCall, is presiding tonight. Uncle Chip was lucky to find a buyer for the Sixty Miners after falling into debt, and the historical saloon was going to seed. Paul’s a newcomer to Colson’s Corner, exactly the type of businessman Tami wants to attract.
Young, wealthy, and citified, he hails from the San Francisco Bay Area where his parents are tech executives. Instead of going into tech investing like his siblings who are venture capitalists and investment bankers, Paul did a stint as a smokejumper with my sister, Linx.
He's also a witness to the arsonist attack at Linx’s barn this summer, and I’m not sure he gave me a straight answer to what he saw.
I amble up to the copper bar counter and lean on my elbows.
“Howdy, Sheriff,” Paul says, trying to act countrified. “What’ll you have?”
“Giant Buffalo cheeseburger, Cajun onion rings, and a chocolate milk shake with a cherry on top. I’m working.”
“Coming up.” He turns away from me to scoop ice into a blender.
For a bartender, he’s certainly a closemouthed type. He hears a lot but doesn’t share. Too bad.
He likes to play big man in town, throwing his money into every charitable drive, but there’s something strange about a guy who has the world at his feet hanging out in our small town.
I wonder what he knows. I wonder who or what he’s hiding from. I wonder what secrets he keeps.
He brings me the milkshake. “Want this now or with the food?”
“I’ll take it now. I’m starving.” I pay him. “Keep the change.”
“Hard day today?” he asks.
“Yeah.” I settle back onto a barstool. “The pits.”
“Heard about that worker who fell. He okay?”
“Fine. He was installing a zipline and fell.” I tap my fingers on the counter. “What do you think about having the hotel across the street from you?”
“Don’t believe it’ll turn a profit.” He picks up a glass and polishes it. He does that whenever he’s nervous. It’s not like those glasses need wiping.
“So, you’re not going to lose sleep over it?”
“It’ll bring more traffic to this side of the creek, but no one’s going to want ghost stories all year round. Tami’s spending too much for a single minor holiday.”
