Page 57 of All You Want
“Yep. You better get back to the parking area. Heard there are drunks trick or treating there. Got to make sure they’re safe.”
“Come with me,” the old man says. “I don’t think there’s any danger lurking out back unless it’s one of the ghosts.”
He walks partway with the old guy who he now recognizes as Donnie. When Corny greets them, slapping his nightstick like he’s some kind of Keystone cop, he retreats silently into the shadows.
Hushed voices whisper behind the building, and he spots the meddlesome witch who’s been a thorn in his side.
The person she’s talking to is covered with a black bedsheet. The only thing visible are his white-gloved hands.
He stays back until they’re done, exchanging envelopes. Mr. Black Sheet leaves, and the witch’s mouth elongates with a sneaky smile as she counts the money inside her envelope.
His grip tightens around the nightstick, but he doesn’t strike. She’s a distraction.
He has bigger fish to fry.
Twenty-One
~ Todd ~
Tami’s sorority sisters pass me around like a cheap suit, but I don’t mind. They try to get me to speak, but I’m really good at grunting and saying nothing.
They don’t have a clue who I am, and I’m discovering how much I like being incognito. It’s something I’ve never had—the gift of being anonymous.
All my life, everyone in town knew I was Todd Colson, the oldest son of Joe and Minx Colson. Everyone knew my mother left us to be a free-spirit artist. Since I’m the oldest in a large family of kids, I never had any privacy.
My brothers and sisters looked up to me, and I was always in the spotlight. I had to set an example. I protected them, punched a few noses, carried them on my back when they were tired or sick, and watched over them.
Always watching.
A man can get tired of watching and never letting down his guard.
“Dance with me, big bad boy,” Larissa, the fox woman, says. She’s a vivacious redhead who used to be the social secretary of Tami’s sorority. That surprises me, because I would have thought that job would go to Tami. Apparently, as bubbly as Tami is around our town, she was the treasurer and the sensible one in her sorority.
The other two are equally outrageous. The brunette is a dancer from tap to ballet to belly dancing, and she loves to travel. The tall blonde is athletic and fancies herself a warrior—at least online in the many video games she’s obsessed with.
One thing they all have in common—they’re unabashed flirts. We’ve already had dinner, and even though I sat next to Tami, she was up and around the dining room meeting and greeting the hotel guests.
She’s so popular, outgoing, bubbly, and exciting. I can’t see her sticking around someone as boring as me, but I figure she flirts with me to keep from getting speeding tickets.
I hold out my hands for Larissa, keeping her from pressing against me while we waltz around the dance floor to a macabre rendition of heavy-metal dance music.
“Tell me your name,” Larissa shouts above the music which is full of spooky owls hooting and maniacal laughter.
I grunt and keep moving so I can spot any potential dangers.
“I can’t wait to get you in the dark and unmask you,” she persists. “Are you an escaped convict? Is that why you won’t tell me your name?”
I shake my head, but she’s not going to get me to speak. I’m enjoying being a mystery man, or mystery Sasquatch.
Pow! Sizzle. Crackle.
The electric lights go out. A few members of the band keep singing, but their electric guitars are silent. A lone fiddle keeps playing, along with the drums.
There’s still light from the fireplace, as well as the blue glow of emergency lights. An atmosphere of expectation hovers over the gathering, as if the lights going out is part of the plan.
“Hold on to me, big guy, I’m scared.” Larissa squeezes my fingers.
I gently try to disengage. A crime could be in progress, and I have to be ready to take action.
