“
I’ll bet she was the other
woman Angie was telling us about. The two of them had a run-in with
Edsel in Angie’s office. We need to talk to both of them. But we’ll
have to wait. How about another game of—“
“—
Centipede. Let’s switch to
Centipede.”
“
Okay.”
“
You know, this place is for
kids—not adults.”
Greg and Cynthia turned around.
“
Hi. I’m Craig
Buttard.”
Greg introduced himself and Cynthia and they
shook hands.
“
We’re from out of town,”
said Greg. “But I grew up here in Orange. And this afternoon we
were over at
The Biscuit
and we heard about this place. The waitress told
us you’ve got a talented and unusual band. And I’m a music guy. I
teach private lessons and directed a church choir. So, we just
thought it would be fun to drop in and see what all the fuss is
about.”
Craig smiled. “Well, that’s fine. No
problem. It’s just that we don’t like to have a lot of adults
milling around in here. It makes the kids uncomfortable.”
Cynthia wondered what these kids were doing
that they didn’t want their parents to see. Then she noticed a
young teen couple standing in the middle of the dance floor trying
their best to lick each others’ tonsils.
“
Where did you find this
band?” said Greg.
“
They’re brand new. They
formed the band just this week—to get this job. One of the things
we wanted was a band with a local-sounding name.
Orange Puke
was not
exactly what we had in mind. But the kids love them. Have you heard
about their… gimmick?”
“
No. What gimmick?” said
Greg.
Craig grinned broadly. “I’ll just let it be
a surprise. Don’t miss the last song.” He walked away.
“
What do you suppose they
do?” said Greg. “Pull a rabbit out of a hat?”
“
Look at that,” said
Cynthia. The young couple was still in lip-lock.
“
Better here than in the
back seat of a car I guess.”
“
What are you talking about?
That boy’s not old enough to drive.”
He took a second look. “Yeah, you’re
right.”
“
I think we need to follow
that girl home and tell her mother what she’s been doing up
here.”
“
Okay, settle down. We’ve
got to stay focused. One or both of those women in the band tried
to kill Edsel.”
“
Maybe we should just call
the police and tell them what we know. Let them handle it,
Sweetie.”
“
But that’s the problem. We
don’t really know anything. If we can just talk to them, maybe
they’ll let something slip.”
“
Sondra isn’t going to let
us talk to E. Z.,” said Cynthia.
“
Then we’ll divide and
conquer. You take Sondra and I’ll take E. Z.”
“
How about if you take
Sondra and I take E. Z.?”
“
Okay. I don’t care. We’ll
stay back here in the shadows, and maybe they’ll think we left.
Then we’ll try to catch them off guard.”
Greg and Cynthia forgot all
about the arcade. They refilled their coke cups and waited
for
Orange Puke
to play.
It was nearly 11:00 PM when the band started
playing “Puking My Guts Out (All Over You).”
“
This must be the last
song—the one with the gimmick,” said Greg.
“
Why do you say that?” said
Cynthia.
“
Look at how the kids are
crowding the stage. Everybody’s trying to get as close as
possible.”
“
What do think is going to
happen?”
Greg shrugged.
At the end of the song, the three guitarists
slung their guitars to their backs and stepped to the edge of the
stage. They tilted their heads back in unison and then jerked them
back down. The girls and even some of the boys screamed. The three
women barfed all over the crowd.
Greg and Cynthia were alarmed and
confused.
The women spewed a steady, powerful stream
of slimy orange goo. The crowd of kids quickly dispersed. Then they
started laughing wildly and shouting “Orange Puke!” “Orange Puke!”
“Orange Puke!”
The drummer stood. Then all four band
members took a long slow bow.
The crowd whistled and cheered and the women
took another bow.
Cynthia saw a girl licking her arm—as though
it were an orange Popsicle. A boy tried to steal a lick, but she
swatted him on the head and pushed him away.
“
This is crazy,” said
Greg.
“
You never know what kids
will go for,” said Cynthia.
“
Let’s just stay back for a
while. Hopefully at some point E. Z. and Sondra will separate. Then
we’ll strike.”
After a few minutes, Sondra walked by,
heading for the exit. She was alone.
“
I’ll catch her in the
parking lot,” said Greg.
“
Okay. I’ll stay in here and
talk to E. Z.”
Greg followed Sondra at a distance. Just
before she reached her car, Boomer Hertz ran past him and caught
Sondra unlocking the door.
The bass player must have seen Cynthia
talking to E. Z., thought Greg. She’s going to tip her off.
“
Hey, Sondra, would you mind
giving me a ride?” said Boomer.
“
How’d you get here?” said
Sondra with a scowl.
“
I caught a ride with Cindy.
But she’s got a date with Craig tonight. Come on—Butterfly Inn is
on your way home.”
“
Oh, alright. Get in,” said
Sondra.
As they drove out of the parking lot, Boomer
said, “This is great—being back together again.”
“
Yeah,” said
Sondra.
“
I’m so glad you asked me to
be in your band,” She put her hand on top of Sondra’s
thigh.
Sondra snatched Boomer’s hand off her leg.
“We’re in a band together. That’s all. And I’m just giving you a
ride home. We’ve been through all this before. I thought you
understood.”
“
Sure. I do.”
Sondra hoped she hadn’t made
a big mistake. But she had been desperate for a good bass player.
Without Boomer,
Orange Puke
would not exist.
Sondra drove up in front of Boomer’s motel
room door. “Well, see you tomorrow.”
“
Come in for just a minute,
Sondra. I want to show you something.”
“
No, I’m tired. Whatever it
is, I’ll see it later.”
“
Awe, come on. It’s a cool
new bass I’m thinking about buying. It’ll just take a
second.”
Sondra hesitated. “Okay. I’ll come in for
just a second. That’s all.”
“
Great.” Boomer smiled as
they got out of the car. She unlocked the door and led Sondra into
her room.
A few seconds later, Greg drove by and
spotted Sondra’s car. He made a U-turn and went back up to the
front of the parking lot and found a spot between two U-haul
trucks. He backed in carefully. He would wait there until Sondra
drove by. Then he would follow her.
Greg turned off the engine and pulled his
cell phone out of his pocket to give Cynthia a call. It was dead.
He thought about going into the motel lobby to make the call. But
then he might miss Sondra.
If only he’d known what was to come, he
would have left Butterfly Inn right then. He would have jammed the
accelerator to the floorboard, sideswiping cars on the way out of
the parking lot, burning all the rubber off his tires, blowing out
the engine—whatever it took to get him far away from Sondra
Crench.
If only he’d known what was to come.
Chapter
18
Cynthia decided to wait until E. Z. had
finished her conversation with Cindy Banya before approaching her.
Craig Buttard walked up behind Cindy and put his arm around her.
Almost immediately the couple said their goodbyes to E. Z. and
walked away.
“
Could we please talk
now?”
E. Z. looked around to make sure Sondra was
really gone. “I guess.”
“
We were just wondering why
you went to visit Edsel Torkman in the hospital,” said
Cynthia.
“
Who?”
“
The nurse told us. She saw
you there in his room.”
E. Z. hesitated.
“
We’re thinking that what
happened to Edsel was not an accident. And that you know something
about it.”
“
I wasn’t me.”
“
Then why did you go to his
hospital room?”
E. Z. looked down. “I just wanted to make
sure he was okay.”
“
How did you even know he
was in the hospital?”
“
Well, I…heard somebody
talking about the accident.”
“
Who?”
“
Cindy, I think. Maybe Craig
told her. I don’t want to answer any more questions.”
“
Did Sondra have anything to
do with this?”
E. Z.’s eyes darted away.
“
Is she the one who did
it?”
“
I don’t know. I can’t
say…for sure.”
“
But you
think
it was her.”
“
Maybe.” The she quickly
added, “I shouldn’t be telling you this.”
“
Yes, you should. We’re
talking about attempted murder. It looks like he’s going to be okay
once his ribs heal—but we can’t let whoever did this get away with
it. Can we?”
E. Z. considered the question for a moment.
“I followed her car. She did go into his shop for a few minutes and
then left. But I don’t know what she did while she was in
there.”
**********
“
So, what do think? Should I
get it?” said Boomer, as she took off her bright orange tux coat
and hung it in her tiny closet. Most of her clothes were still in
suitcases. In a cheap motel like Butterfly Inn you were lucky if
you got a closet big enough to hang three or four items.
“
Sure.” Sondra was sitting
on the bed, reading the detailed specifications for the bass guitar
Boomer was interested in buying. “You’ve got this kind of money to
spend?”
“
Well, no—not yet. But now
that I have a paying gig I can save up for it.”
“
Don’t you want to get your
own place first?”
“
I really want that bass,”
said Boomer. “An apartment can wait.”
“
It’s your money,” said
Sondra, handing Boomer the catalog as she stood up. “I gotta go.”
She walked toward the door.
Boomer follower her. “Wait. I’ve got to show
you something else.”
“
Boomer…” Sondra’s patience
was wearing thin. She turned around, expecting to see the catalog
opened at the bass amplifier page.
Boomer had removed her blouse, and was
standing two feet from Sondra. “How do like this bra?”
“
What are you doing?” Boomer
didn’t even
need
a bra. “Yeah, that’s nice.”
Sondra was about to turn and bolt for the
door when Boomer grabbed her and pulled her tight against her body.
Sondra was a strong woman, but Boomer was stronger than a lot of
men. She tried to kiss Sondra, but Sondra turned her head to one
side and then the other.
Sondra knew she would never win a battle of
strength against her bass player. So, she gave in. She let Boomer
kiss her on the lips. When Boomer forced her tongue deep into
Sondra’s mouth, she nearly gagged. But then she seemed to give in
to the inevitable. She kissed Boomer back, as though she were
kissing a man, encircling Boomer’s lips with her tongue and then
sliding it inside.
Boomer began get more excited while at the
same time relaxing her grip.
“
Let’s get this bra off of
you,” said Sondra.
Boomer smiled and released her.
Sondra could have tried to run right then,
but she knew if she failed she would not get a second chance to
earn Boomer’s trust. “Turn around, Honey.”
Boomer turned her back to Sondra.
Before unclasping the bra, Sondra rubbed
Boomer’s back. “How does that feel?”
“
Good, Baby. Real good,”
purred Boomer.
Sondra managed to get her right hand into
her pocket for a brief moment, and then quickly returned it to
Boomer’s back.
“
You’re teasing,” said
Boomer.
“
I’m teasing myself
too.”
“
Oh, Baby.”
Sondra worked both fists up Boomer’s back,
and then onto her neck. The key ring was in her right hand. She
extended a key, turning the pointy side to Boomers neck. It was a
new house key Val had made for her daughter, and it still had razor
sharp edges. She slashed it viciously across Boomer’s neck, from
front to back.
Boomer jumped away from Sondra. Blood gushed
out of her neck with each beat of her heart. “What did you do to
me?” She tried to stop the bleeding with her hands, to no avail.
She walked toward Sondra, but then stumbled and fell to the floor.
“Call 9-1-1, Sondra! Please!”
“
You just wouldn’t listen,”
said Sondra, standing over her.
“
I’m sorry. But please don’t
let me die!”
“
Nobody can save you now.
Goodbye, Boomer.”
**********
Greg wondered what was taking Sondra so
long. He was fairly certain that there was only one way in and out
of Butterfly Inn’s parking lot. But what if he was mistaken? She
might have already gotten away.