Rock Chick 03 Redemption (31 page)

“I don’t
do
gym shoes, comprende?” Daisy told her, giving her a squinty look.

Yowza.

“It’s your funeral,” Al y shot back, total y unaffected by the squinty look.

Holy cow.

Then Daisy’s eyes came to me. “Honey bunches of oats,” she said, “your man is outside having an
extreme
conversation with her man.” A toss of her head indicated Al y.

“I know,” I told her.

She nodded and looked around. “Al right then, who brought the stun guns?”

Shit.

* * * * *

Carl, Al y and Indy rode in Carl’s Pathfinder.

If you could believe this, Annette, Jason, Jet, Daisy and I fol owed in the back of Daisy’s limousine. Daisy’s bodyguard drove.

“I fucking
love
Denver,” Annette said, staring out the window and sprawling in the luxurious space, completely at home, as if she rode in the back of limousines every day.

“You gotta stay until Thursday, Sugar, come to my do. I’m having a fancy soiree,” Daisy invited.

“We… are… fucking…
there
,” Annette said.

Jason looked at me and closed his eyes in good-natured frustration. When he opened them I was smiling at him. We’d shared these looks a lot over the years.

Then I turned to Jet. “What’s Smithie’s?”

“Pardon?” she asked.

“Smithie’s. I overheard you say when you came into Fortnum’s the day I met you that you worked there.” She grinned at me. “Wel , official y, I don’t work there anymore.”

“You let Eddie win,” I said.

“Eddie wins a lot,” she told me.

I found this sobering information, considering the fact that I figured Eddie was a lot like Hank.

“What is it?” I asked.

“A strip club. I was a cocktail waitress there.”

“Cool!” Annette cried.

Jet smiled ful out to Annette and we al sat in the limo dazzled for a moment by her smile.

“My sister is a stripper there,” Jet went on. “She debuts tomorrow night. You can al come if you want. I can get you VIP passes.”

“Sugar! That would be hot!” Daisy screeched with excitement, then did a glance sweeping around al of us.

“Her sister is Lottie Mac.”

“Queen of the Corvette Calendar?” Jason asked, clearly intrigued.

“Fuckin’ A,” Daisy replied.

I stared around them. It was like they were talking in a different language.

“You want to come?” Jet asked me.

“Love to,” I answered.

She grabbed my hand and squeezed then let go.

Through the hand squeeze I felt something pass between her and me. The hand squeeze wasn’t about me going to watch her sister strip; it was her giving me strength. I was reminded that just over a week ago she’d been through a trauma much like mine. She’d almost been raped and her Dad was stil in the hospital. She knew my pain in many different ways, hers was nearly as fresh.

“I see you took my advice about Hank,” Daisy said, taking me out of my thoughts.

I looked to her. “No, I’m leaving as soon as they find Bil y and al of this is over.”

The limo went deathly quiet.

“Come again?” Daisy said into the silence.

I sighed and looked out the window. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try us,” Jason prompted softly.

I sighed again, this time, deeper and louder. I explained my Hank-deserves-better-than-me philosophy. After I stopped talking, there was more silence.

“Come again?” Daisy repeated.

“I knew you wouldn’t understand,” I returned.

“I understand,” Jet said.

I looked to her.

“Hank doesn’t see shades of gray,” she continued.

I blinked at her. “What?” I asked.

“You think he doesn’t see shades of gray. You think he sees black and white. Good and bad. Crime and justice.

He doesn’t see shades of gray. You’re gray.” I swal owed.

That was so
it
.

“Jet, Sugar Bunch, I don’t think Roxie’s gray,” Daisy put in gently.

“She’s gray. And you’re gray too,” Jet replied, just as gently.

Daisy was silent because Daisy was definitely gray.

I felt my nostrils start to burn, bit my lip and looked out the window. I was trying hard but I felt tears leak out the sides of my eyes.

“Roxie, you’re about as fucking gray as the fucking sun.

I’m sorry, Jet, but I’ve known Roxie for years and she isn’t fucking gray,” Annette said.

“I’m not saying gray is bad or that Roxie’s gray. Just that I understand how she’s feeling and that she
thinks
Hank’l
think
she’s gray.”

“She isn’t gray,” Annette repeated.

“I know that but she thinks Hank’l think she is,” Jet

“I know that but she thinks Hank’l think she is,” Jet returned.

“She isn’t fuckin’ gray,” Annette was getting heated.

“I know that!” Jet was getting heated right back.

“I’m going to have a talk with Hank,” Jason cut in and I could tel by his tone he meant to do it, and soon.

“Don’t you dare,” I said to Jason, my head swiveling to him.

“Are you crying, Sugar Bunch?” Daisy asked.

I shook my head even though I was.

“Oh God, I’m sorry. I just wanted you to know I understood,” Jet grabbed my hand again.

I wiped away my tears with my other hand. “It’s okay. I know you didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Roxie, look at me,” Jet urged.

I turned to her and tried to give her a smile, but it was weak. “It’s okay,” I repeated.

“I’m not very pretty,” she said suddenly.

I blinked at her. “Excuse me?” I asked.

“At least, that’s what I thought,” she carried on like I hadn’t said anything.

How could she think that? She was flat out pretty.

“Don’t you look in the mirror?” I asked, not meaning to be a bitch but… seriously.

“I thought, once Eddie saved me he’d lose interest in me because he’s so good-looking and I’m… not.”

“You’re loopy,” Annette told her.

I kept staring at her and her hand squeezed mine.

“Eddie saved me awhile ago,” she whispered.

I felt my throat close.

I felt my throat close.

“Jet…” my voice was barely audible.

“Hank sees gray. You may think he doesn’t, he may act like he doesn’t, he may even say he doesn’t. But he does. I promise,” her voice was just as low.

“I’m stil leaving,” I said.

She nodded, “I understand that too.”

“Thank you.”

“Though, you aren’t leaving,” she said.

“I am,” I said back.

“You
think
you are, but you aren’t.”

“I am!” I said, kinda loud.

She just shook her head.

I glanced between Jet and Daisy. They were both grinning at me.

“Denver people are nuts,” I told Annette and Jason.

“I know. Don’t cha love it?” Annette replied.

* * * * *

We were at the front of the line to the haunted trail, the doors to the trail in front of us, each side of the door held a flaming torch. A man wearing ful ghoul makeup and a big, hooded black cloak was standing in front of the door, glaring at us, completely “in character”.

It was dark, it was cold and I was already scared out of my mind.

* * * * *

We’d had troubles from the start.

First, the haunted house was out in the middle of nowhere, the night was dark; only the haze of Denver lights could be seen in the distance. This total y freaked me out.

Then Daisy’s limo caused a sensation when we pul ed into the parking lot. Then Daisy caused a sensation when she alighted from the limo. It wasn’t the thing to wear a skintight, rhinestone-encrusted jumpsuit with high-heeled, platform boots to a haunted house in the middle of the country. People stared. They didn’t know if she was Dol y Parton, if she was a Dol y Parton impersonator or of she was some other important personage. Someone even approached her and asked her for her autograph.

“Wel , aren’t you sweet?” Daisy squealed on a tinkly bel laugh and signed the piece of paper and then, before handing it back she kissed it with her frosty pink lipstick.

Then, we found out there were no weapons al owed.

They tried to confiscate not only the stun guns but also the ful -blown gun Carl wore on his belt.

Then, when Carl flashed his badge—Carl was a police officer too—the big guy who seemed to be head of security got al policy on him. Carl got a hard look on his face, took him aside and they had words. Carl came back and said the worst eight words, for me, at that moment, in the English language. “We’re goin’ to the front of the line.” We walked in front of everyone to the front of the line.

Due to our
situation
they were giving us a wide berth.

Before letting us in, they were waiting longer between the party in front of us and keeping the party behind us wel back.

Carl had explained my stun gun to me. I had it shoved in the back of my cords under Hank’s sweatshirt. It didn’t feel comfortable there but I found I liked having it, even though I doubted I’d use it.

Indy, Al y, Daisy and Jet al carried one. They’d had only one extra and without a word, Jason took it and gave Annette a look. She pouted for a second then pretended she didn’t care.

“Al right, huddle,” Al y ordered.

We al went into a huddle.

“Everyone got a partner?” she asked.

Indy linked her arm with mine.

I looked at her and then my eyes swung, panicked, to Carl.

He gave me a “don’t worry” nod but I don’t think he got it.

I wasn’t worried that bad guys would shoot me. No one in their right mind would attack me here. There were hundreds of people al over the place and very stringent security.

No, I was worried that Indy would go berserk on me.

I didn’t have time to switch partners as Al y kept talking.

“No matter what, stay with your partner.”

Oh shit.

Shit, shit, shit.

“We al stick together. Someone gets caught or cornered, say by the hooded hangman or the crazy, bloody surgeon, we al go back and save them. Never leave a man behind. Got me?”

Oh shit!

Shit, shit,
shit!

“Got me!” she shouted.

We al nodded.

“Repeat it.”

We al muttered, “Never leave a man behind.” She nodded to us, “Good.”

Then she linked arms with Carl and said to the ghoul,

“We’re ready.”

The doors creaked open and my heart started beating so hard, I could feel it in my throat.

Annette and Jason were partners, so were Daisy and Jet (with Daisy’s bodyguard trailing them). Indy was with me. Al y was with Carl. We entered in that order.

It was pretty cool; scary, but cool. They’d obviously put a lot of effort into it. Great monsters with fantastic makeup, good props, excel ent scenery, eery, scary, dark and the monsters popped out just in time to give you a thril . It wasn’t as bad as I thought. Indy and I were caught unawares a couple of times and we screamed, scooted forward, then giggled our asses off.

Then we hit the open area with hangman’s section and the character there swinging a noose in his hand like a lasso cottoned on immediately to the scaredy-cats in the bunch. He approached Indy and me and in a guttural voice whispered, “Ooo, I like these girlies.”

We both froze, standing stock-stil and staring at him and then we both screamed at the tops of our lungs. Carl and Al y saved us, pushing us forward in front of them, Al y laughing herself sil y.

We left some haunted caves and entered an open area that was a maze of cornfields.

“Oh shit,” I said, my heart starting to race again.

Indy had my arm in a vice-like hold and she was glancing around, ever vigilant, trying to prepare for the next scare (a wasted effort, these people knew what they were doing).

“What?” she asked.

“I don’t like cornfields.”

She stopped and stared at me.

“But you’re from Indiana,” she said.

Then, out of nowhere, the cornfields moved and Corn Husk Man jumped out at us. He swiped at us with hands made of dry, creepy husks. We both jumped back in sync, shrieked like raving lunatics and then Indy took off running,
backwards
, dragging me with her. We forged through Carl and Al y, knocking Al y on her ass. Indy was yel ing at the top of her lungs and I started laughing so hard, I couldn’t control it. Not only at Indy, but Al y going down on her ass. I was bent over with it, running doubled and trying at the same time to pul Indy back.

A monster caught us on the retreat and came out growling, Indy and I stopped dead then screeched like mad women, right in his face. I whirled her around, our arms stil locked and we went back the way we came.

We rocketed, stil screaming, by Carl, who’d fol owed us, then by Al y who’d gotten up. I slammed into Al y on the run and she went down, flat on her ass again.

I was giggling, looking behind, Indy dragging me forward and I shouted breathlessly, “Sorry!”

We both skirted Corn Husk Man and ran flat out, giggling and screaming, to the end of the corn maze. We stopped, doubled over, trying to catch our breath, holding on to each other but stil laughing. My ribs ached, just a little bit, but I didn’t care. I hadn’t laughed that hard in years and I didn’t remember the last time I’d had that much fun. We were in an open field, the front of our party was long gone. Al y and Carl would catch up, I was certain.

It couldn’t have been a second or maybe two later before we heard the chainsaw.

And I could say that there was nothing more terrifying, fake haunted trail or no, then being in an open field, in the dark, in the middle of nowhere and hearing the sound of a chainsaw.