“That’s a good point,” Sassy said. “I’ll have to ask around and find out why my usual sources didn’t hear about this place and those statues; especially, the way they’re on every billboard and sign in town.”

  “How many people would’ve believed any of this?” I said.

  “Plenty,” Sassy said.

  “How do you live with all this supernatural stuff, Sassy?” Alex said.

  “Once you know this supernatural world exists alongside ours, it’s easier to be part of the solution than to wonder about it and be afraid. This is one of the better cases I’ve worked for Lucy’s group; at least, we get to eat homemade cookies.”

  “Yeah… cookies baked by a zombie woman,” Buck said.

  “She wasn’t a zombie when she made them,” Sassy said. “Besides, you were the first one to mention the cookies after Prudence got her hands chopped off.”

  “Well, the cookies smelled so good, and they tasted even better,” Buck said.

  “You’d better enjoy what’s left of them, because you aren’t getting anymore… at least not from her,” Sassy said. “So, what’re we gonna do now, Layton?”

  They all looked at me, and I lifted the goody bag that Charity had given me.

  “I brought cookies from Charity… and I’m willing to share.” After everyone grabbed a cookie out of the bag, and Buck grabbed two, I started talking again. “We’re gonna check into The Green-Eyed Lady Hotel and Treasure Trove, and use the two statues we found to help us find the third.”

  “Why would that Andrew guy just let us check in with no trouble,” Alex said.

  “Because that’s exactly what he’s going to do,” I said. “He doesn’t know Prudence told us about him and, but if he’s got someone keeping tabs on us, then by now he knows we have at least one of the statues. Which means he’ll welcome us in with open arms. At which point, we need to work our asses off to find that last statue and fast. “Right now, we need to make a few calls, then get packed to leave.”

  “Do you think Andrew will attack us here outright, or wait?” Buck said.

  “We’d better call the hotel and reserve some rooms, that way we can be sure he’ll wait for us to go to him,” I said.

  “We’ll be giving him the home field advantage,” Sassy said.

  “It can’t be helped,” I said. “We’ll have to be cautious and think fast on our feet, making sure to use our strengths to our advantage.”

  “What strengths in particular?” Alex said.

  “You’re detail oriented, Alex, so you be our eyes. Buck and Sassy both know their weapons and how to use them… I’ll be tactical. Follow along with what I do and wait for whatever signals I give.”

  “Works for me,” Sassy said.

  “Man, I wish I still had Billy’s sickle,” Buck said.

  “I’m not even gonna ask,” Sassy said.

  “Think like a soldier, Buck,” I said. “When we get inside that hotel and store, look around and see what you can use as a weapon, should the need arise. Plus, make sure to carry your gun… I don’t think I need to tell you that, Sassy.”

  “I’d feel naked without at least one or two guns on my person at all times,” Sassy said.

  “Did anyone find anything in here that could be helpful to us?”

  “We did find pictures of Andrew,” Buck said, getting a framed photo off the table that had the sandwich supplies on it and handing it to me. “He’s the skinny dude with the long brown hair and cowboy hat. And he’s not one of us—in every picture of him we found, he had his arms around a woman or two. He likes ‘em petite, but busty.”

  “Why is he in so many of Prudence’s pictures?” I said.

  “He used to act with her in some of the shows she did; we saw him in the cast party photos,” Buck said. “The dude looks like a man-ho to me.”

  “He does have that look about him,” Alex said.

  “Alright, alright,” Sassy said. “I’ll put on something slinky… maybe I can seduce the man.”

  “Anything’s possible,” Buck said, and was rewarded with a slap on his arm from Sassy. “Hey, what’d I say? I hope it really is as simple as someone seducing the guy—I’d do it myself, if it would help us finish this case.”

  “I’m touched to hear that,” Sassy said.

  “We’d better start making some calls,” I said. “Sassy, you call the hotel. Make reservations for yourself and your brother Buck in one room with two beds, and another room for your two friends Alex and me. I’m going to call Pastor Markham and arrange for us to have some backup, should we need it.”

  -29-

  All Aboard

  Alex and Buck had just come back inside from taking their things out to the truck, and were sitting on the back porch with me when Sassy joined us.

  “OK, folks, I booked us two rooms at the hotel,” Sassy said. “The man himself—Andrew, handled things, and we blabbed a while, which gave me a chance to work my womanly charms on him.”

  Buck laughed, and Sassy gave him a dirty look before continuing. “I’d tell you to grow up, Buck, but I don’t think there’s a chance in hell of that happening. Anyway, Andrew was all excited, telling me how they have swing dance night tonight at the soda shop located on the property. So, we have a date—all of us for swing time starting at nine tonight.”

  “That’s great!” Buck said. “I love to swing dance!”

  “I do too!” Sassy said.

  “What?” Alex said. “Do you both clog too?” He laughed.

  “Don’t knock clogging,” I said. “My aunt took me clogging when I was young.”

  “Yeah, but how long did you keep it up?” Alex said, laughing until he saw my serious face. “Oh, you still do it.”

  “I clog, square dance, disco, tango, and ballroom dance,” Buck said.

  “This party will give us a chance to look around and mingle a little,” Sassy said. “I also called Lucy, and she said she’d show up for the dance with the statue.”

  “I called the pastor, and some of his people will be around should we need backup,” I said.

  “What’re the chances we’ll be needing them?” Sassy said.

  “Pretty high, if my old friends with ties to my last case decide to show,” I said. “We’re packed and ready to go… how about you, Sassy?”

  “Wait here ten minutes while I start getting ready, then you three go on ahead and I’ll follow. Time things so that Andrew is looking out the front window of his hotel when I get there. The man’s got a taste for retro, so the Mustang will catch his eye, and I’ll be sure to hold his attention.”

  * * * *

  We waited the allotted ten minutes, then walked out to my blue truck. I took a second to look at the house and think about poor Prudence. Sassy was right, I was getting soft… and that wasn’t a good thing. We were soon in the truck and headed toward downtown while listening to Buck’s musings on the situation.

  “That Sassy is kind of cool… a lil dirty for my taste, but cool.”

  “So says the man who had the opening line ‘my name is Buck, I like to fuck,’” I said.

  “That’s different, ‘cause it rhymes; so it’s funny, not dirty,” Buck said.

  “Do you really believe that, Buck?” I said. “Because I don’t think many people were laughing around you at the camp.”

  “They just didn’t get the joke,” Buck said. “All they wanted to do was paw at me, and I hate it when people do that. I don’t like too much touchy-touchy and even less touchy-feely.”

  “Then you really, really shouldn’t have told people that your name was Buck and you liked to fuck,” Alex said. “That kind of gives them the wrong impression, whether or not it rhymes.”

  “Not that the rhyme wasn’t funny,” I said. “It’s just that the camp was… sort of not the best venue to use that joke, considering it was filled with naked gay guys.”

  “I didn’t know most of them were there looking for sex,” Buck said. “I just thought it was a nudist camp for people to have fun, roast weenies, play games, and stuff.” On a change of subject, I talked to Sassy when you two were busy doing something, and she told me that not only is Miss Lucy a real woman but she’s also married with kids and grandkids. She doesn’t like anyone to call her Mrs, though because it makes her feel old. Plus the Miss thing is more respectful than if we ran around just calling her Lucy.”

  “The Miss Lucy thing is old news, Buck. And you’re lucky they didn’t roast your weenie at the campground,” I said. “We’re close to Main Street—keep an eye out for this place.”

  “It’s going to be the last building on your left, Layton,” Alex said. “I looked it up earlier. And, Buck, I wouldn’t dig too deeply into Miss Lucy’s business—she might not take kindly to it.”

  * * * *

  The Green-Eyed Lady Hotel and Treasure Trove was located at the end of the strip of stores, which all had brick fronts, but different colored signs and awnings. I parked in front of the main door, which had a large sign above it with the name of the establishment The Green-Eyed Lady Hotel and Treasure Trove written in gold on a large green awning above the front door and windows of the three-story building. The building had a black wrought iron balcony across the second story, allowing the upstairs rooms a view of the street, stores, and nice landscaping consisting of trees and brightly colored flowers. We got out of the truck and walked toward the front door. There were large arched windows on either side of the double doors. Two windows down on the left was a separate door for The Treasure Trove store, and past two windows on the right was a door for the soda shop Sassy had mentioned.

  When we entered through the front doors, we encountered the registration desk in an alcove to the left by one of the windows. The space was open, and I could see a wide staircase leading upstairs. In front of it was a comfortable looking sitting area with sofas and chairs. To the right of the space was an indoor entrance to The Soda Shop—nice original name—and there was an indoor entrance to The Treasure Trove on the left. Both shops had windows on the inside, which opened up to the hotel lobby.

  Andrew was at the desk to welcome us. He looked just like the photos… long brown hair worn loose, a skinny physique, and mischievous looking green eyes. The man had the look of someone hiding secrets.

  “Welcome, gentlemen, I see here there’s a young lady in your party,” Andrew said.

  “Yes, Sir,” I said. She’ll be rooming with her brother, Buck. Sassy should be here any minute.” I made a point of looking out the front window and Andrew joined me.

  “Holy sheee-it!” Andrew said, looking out the window. “Look at that cherry Mustang that just parked outside.”

  “That would be my sister’s car,” Buck said.

  We heard a car door slam and saw Andrew slap the side of his face.

  “That doll is your sister!”

  We looked outside to see what had caught his attention. Sassy was leaning against the car door sucking on a Blow Pop, dressed in a 1940s Lana Turner style, tie-front midriff top, and high waist shorts. She’d paired that with wedges and a colorful polka dot scarf, which she’d tied around the base of her ponytail. It all had a very retro look to it, and when she bent over seductively to apply her bright red lipstick while looking in the car mirror, Andrew was practically drooling.

  “That’s my sister alright… the wannabe pin-up girl,” Buck said.

  “Wannabe, my ass,” Andrew said. “With the right agent, she could rake in the bucks making a calendar or something.”

  “Aww, what do I care?” Buck said.

  Andrew looked him up and down, then looked back at Sassy through the window. “You both got good looks in common; but, you’re at opposite ends of the spectrum I’d say.”

  “Hey, don’t be making fun of my sister, chump,” Buck said.

  “I wasn’t,” Andrew said. “You’re a tall one, but an ass… I can already tell that sister of yours is a class act.”

  He walked outside, ushered Sassy into the building, then gave us the grand tour. We walked into the rectangular sitting area, which Andrew called the grand hall. That’s when I noticed all the animal heads mounted on what little wall space there was between the indoor windows of the two shops on either side.

  “I see you like to hang your trophies on the wall,” Sassy said, looking at the animal heads on display. “My daddy was a hunter, Mr. Andrew.”

  “Just call me, Andrew. And my daddy was a hunter too. He taught me; we both liked to display our kills.”

  “You can call me, Miss Sassy, Andrew. I love hunters… there’s just something primal about men with big guns that always gets to me.” She fanned her face with her hand. “Do you have a big gun, Andy?”

  Andrew smiled. “I’d be happy to show you my gun later, Miss Sassy.”

  Buck put his hand on Andrew’s shoulder and talked to him in a serious tone.

  “Don’t be getting nasty with my sister, man.”

  “Hey, she’s the one asking about my gun,” Andrew said.

  “Just because she’s into guns, you didn’t need to be getting all dirty about it,” Buck said.

  Andrew looked at Alex and me, but we just shrugged our shoulders. He turned to Sassy, who was taking a long hard suck of her Blow Pop, which made a ‘pop’ sound when she took it out of her mouth and licked her lips.

  “So far, I like what I see… show us some more of the joint, Andy,” Sassy said, before licking her bright red lips again and winking at him.

  The look on the man’s face told me he was completely baffled by everything. Buck and Sassy gave new meaning to the term shock and awe, but crazy as it all seemed, it was actually working in our favor. I just kept my mouth shut, and when Alex looked my way, I gave him a quick reassuring wink.

  “To the left here behind the glass windows, is The Treasure Trove store which connects to the hotel here and closes at ten every night. There’s also an exterior door which opens onto the main street.”

  He turned, walked toward the right, and pointed.

  “Wow!” I said, not having been able to see the inside of the shop earlier. “It’s a real old-time soda shop.”

  “And it’s all original like my grandpa put in—my daddy and I kept it looking good,” Andrew said. “Everybody gets a free root beer float when they check in. We can head right on over there after I get you to finish the check in process, Mr. Shayne.”

  The check in process was efficient and quick. A bellman followed Alex and Buck to the truck and the Mustang and took care of our luggage. I’d hidden the statue in a secret compartment of the truck for safekeeping until I needed it, and in case someone decided to go through our luggage.

  As soon as everyone was back inside, we followed Andrew into the soda shop. It was white, red, and bright with tiles on the floor and even a cute soda jerk behind the counter. The space was surprisingly large, and had a dance floor area with a jukebox, which would work perfectly for a dance night.

  “Fix ‘em up some root beer floats,” Andrew said to the soda jerk. “Now, folks, I want to show you my favorite thing in this place, if y’all will just look up a second.”

  I looked up and saw a shelf going around the top edge of the entire room, then I heard a loud whistle. A train blowing smoke was running on the tracks and whistling.

  “All aboard!” Andrew said. “Welcome to The Green-Eyed Lady Hotel and Treasure Trove. Damn, I love that train! Always have.”

  “It sure is pretty, and it runs so smoothly, Andy,” Sassy said.

  I had a feeling that train would run more smoothly than our night here would. A famous line from an old film came to mind… something about fastening seatbelts, because it was gonna be a bumpy night.

  -30-

  Settling In

  I looked around and noticed a second young soda jerk, who was thin with short red hair and vibrant green eyes. He was wiping down tables when he looked up, noticed us, and smiled. Then he stopped what he was doing, walked up to Andrew, and spoke.

  “Excuse me, Mr. Farwell, did you want me to send those complimentary floats to the construction workers who’re staying upstairs yet.”

  “No!” Andrew said. “God… blast it, Jerome, can’t you listen to anything I say and get it right. You take it to them right before the dance! Now, you got that!”

  “Yes, Sir, but most folks get their floats when they check in.”

  “They’re going to eat first and they said they’d have their floats for dessert when they come back. And don’t you go taste testing that batch; we don’t need the health inspectors on our ass again.”

  He turned to Sassy, “Pardon my French there, lil Lady. He’s my sister’s boy and none too bright. Now, git on outta here and do some work in back, Jerome.”

  Jerome left, and the first soda jerk started bringing us our floats.

  * * * *

  After finishing our enjoyable floats, we went upstairs to check our rooms. The room Alex and I were in was comfortable and large with a queen-size bed, dresser, and en-suite bathroom. The first thing I did was to lie back on the bed and kick off my deck shoes.

  “Oh my God, did that float ever take me back,” I said, licking my lips and tasting the leftover flavors of sweet root beer, cold ice cream, and creamy whipped cream. “Yum, yum, yum! My dad used to make the best root beer floats, and the ones we just had tasted exactly like his—so rich, creamy, and luscious.”

  “Should I leave you alone, so you can finish having your orgasm?” Alex said.

  I leapt out of bed, lunged at him, threw him on the bed, then got on top of him. After which I started kissing and biting his neck before pulling his shirt off and chewing on first one of his nipples, then the other. In one move, I had pulled both his shorts and underwear off and had his cock in my still hungry mouth. Alex pulled my shirt off over my head, then pulled my shorts and underwear off.

  Alex groaned loudly, then spoke.

  “Oh my God, Layton! I’ll have to figure out how to make those root beer floats.”

  After licking his balls, I pulled his legs into the air and slowly began to enter him. He was warm and welcoming—I was home.

 

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