Thankfully, Ellin was involved in taping a Very Special Episode of “Ready to Believe,” that evening, so she wasn’t around while Camden prepared for his wild night of clubbing. I went up to his room to see how he was progressing. He had on his jeans and his Carolina Panthers t-shirt.

  “Planning to wear shoes?”

  He sighed as he reached for his sneakers

  “Your baseball cap worn backward would be a nice touch.”

  “Too bad I don’t have a giant gold chain.”

  He put on his shoes, stood up, and ran his hand through his hair, which immediately fell into its usual disarray. “I guess this is as good as it’s going to get.”

  He looked all of sixteen. “Bet you get carded.”

  “Ha, ha.”

  I drove Camden to the address Pennix had given us.

  “Camden, this is perfect for you, look.”

  Silvery lights spelled out the club’s name: The Other Side.

  “Been there,” he said

  The Other Side looked like every other night spot, a dark little place with music pulsing out and lights making jittery patterns on the street. Camden joined the line of teens waiting to get in. Nobody said anything to him, but a couple of the scantily attired girls gave him their complete attention. By the time he went inside, he had three girls chatting with him and three more giving him the eye.

  ***

  I arrived at the Cave ten minutes before the Dolls were scheduled to appear. The tables were crowded, and all the stools at the bar were occupied. The patrons were mostly college age, boisterous, but not too drunk. Any sort of music would probably sound good to them.

  I got a beer from Trace Burwell, who shot me a frightened look, and waded through the crowd. Pennix saw me and raised his beer glass in greeting. “Your friend get into The Other Side all right?”

  “Yep. He’s had a lot of practice. Are the Dolls here?”

  “They’re warming up in the back. They looked kinda familiar to me, but I see so many bands, I guess they all look alike after a while.”

  “I’d like to check with them.”

  “Take the door on the left.”

  “In the back” was a medium-sized room backstage with a low counter under a row of mirrors and a few folding chairs. The door was open, but I knocked and was greeted by the band formerly known as Slotted Spoon. Vangie and the other girls had on their usual black clothes, but had added fishnet hose, charm bracelets, and big floppy black bows in their hair.

  Vangie finished tying her bow. “Do we look more like Destitute Dolls?”

  They looked like Fun Time in Mom’s Closet, but I didn’t mention that. “You look very destitute. What did Frieda say?”

  Vangie was reluctant to answer. “She said she’d never be a part of our band, even if we gave her a million dollars.”

  “Oh, great. Now she’s decided to be picky.”

  “I hope that doesn’t cancel our deal, David.”

  Chloe tugged at her black fishnet hose. “We asked her real nicely. I even offered to show her how to play guitar.”

  The girls looked at me with anxious eyes.

  “No, you go ahead and have your big night. You did what you could.”

  Vangie readjusted her bow. “She was quite rude. She said, ‘I can find my own band. I don’t need your talentless crew.’ Then she made other disparaging remarks about my character. Because my mother lets me do whatever I want doesn’t make me a tramp.”

  “I’m sorry I set you up for that. I’ve met Frieda only once, but I should’ve known how she’d react.”

  The other member of the band leaned toward the mirror to check on her spiky eyelashes. “It doesn’t make sense. When Vangie asked me to be in her band, I was thrilled.”

  Vangie gave me a worried glance. “What will you do now?”

  “Right now, I’m going to go out front, get another beer, and enjoy the Destitute Dolls in concert.”

  I went out front, got another beer, and enjoyed—no, endured—the Destitute Dolls in concert. Fortunately, nobody threw anything at the stage. The crowd liked the discordant crashes and mumbled lyrics, even singing along. The Dolls played a mind-numbing hour and bowed to semi-enthusiastic applause.

  Dillon Pennix strolled up to my table. “Not bad.”

  “Would you have them back again?”

  “We might work something out. You and your friend come by the house tomorrow morning so he can tell me about the club.” He saw someone across the room. “Excuse me. Gotta catch this fella.”

  I went back to give the Dolls the good news. They screamed and jumped up and down.

  “Nothing’s definite yet,” I said, “but you made a good impression.”

  Vangie kissed my cheek. “Thanks, David. I wish we could’ve done what you asked.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” I was more concerned about what Camden and his new teenage friends were up to.

  ***

  He was standing outside the club with a group of young ladies when I drove up. As he got in the car, they all said, “Good-bye, Johnny! See you!” and other sweet things.

  “I can see you had a good time,” I said. “Did you smoke some illegal substances?”

  “Nope.”

  “Get down, get funky? Bust a move?”

  “All night long.”

  “Meet cute chicks?”

  “One cute chick in particular. The salesgirl from Oriental Imports was there. The one with all the little curls? Her name’s Tashara, by the way.”

  “Uh, oh. Did she blow your cover?”

  He made a wry face. “No, she thought I was eighteen like everyone else.”

  I stopped for a red light. “Learn anything useful?”

  “Seems Tashara and Bobbi Jo had a lot of conversations about babies before Mary Rose was born. Tashara’s anxious to have a baby of her own, and Bobbi told her it wasn’t all that exciting. Tashara said she didn’t like to hear Bobbi talk like that, and Bobbi told her she had other plans.”

  “Other plans for the baby? Such as?”

  “Tashara didn’t know. But she did say she’d heard several of her friends talking about a way you could make money by selling your baby instead of giving it up for adoption. She was afraid Bobbi was going to do that.”

  The light changed, and I drove on. “Who were these girls selling their babies to?”

  “I don’t know. It was very hard to pick up anything in that hormonal stew.”

  “I get the feeling this was a deal that went horribly wrong. Did Bobbi want a house that badly? Did she hand over her child, thinking she’d get a down payment on the mansion of her dreams, and then got killed instead?”

  “I didn’t get the feeling in the house that Bobbi wanted to sell her baby.”

  All this reminded me that Jordan hadn’t returned my call about a possible black market in babies. “I can’t imagine how anyone would do that.”

  “How did the Dolls do?”

  “They made a good impression.”

  “So this intricate plan is working.”

  “But Frieda refused their offer.”

  Camden had the same reaction I did. “What? You’ve still got to find a band to stick her in?”

  “I can think of several places I’d like to stick her.”

  We didn’t say much the rest of the way home. The house was dark, and Ellin’s car was in the driveway.

  “Oh, Lord,” Camden said.

  “It’s okay. We can sneak in. I’ve done it hundreds of times.”

  “I don’t want to explain all this.”

  “You won’t have to. Come on.”

  Camden tiptoed on up the stairs to their bedroom, and I tiptoed into mine. I didn’t hear any outrage from Ellin, so I figured he was safe. I took a quick shower and got into bed. Before I went to sleep, I took a few minutes to think about what I could do with thirty thousand dollars. I’d always wanted to see more of the country. Travel out west, take in a few national parks, maybe see the Grand Canyon. Visit Alaska and see the Northern Lights. No, take a trip to New Orleans and spend a couple of weeks soaking, in the real traditional jazz played by the masters. Yeah, that was it. Kary could come, too. Oh, no, wait. I should buy something incredibly showy and expensive for Kary. Maybe a new car? So far, Turbo had been reliable, but it was almost as old as the Fury. I could use a new car, myself. I wouldn’t have to ditch the Fury. I could keep her nice and clean and take her out on special occasions.

  Or maybe I could put a substantial down payment on a house just for the two of us. Nothing as grand as a Superior Home, but we could make it work. There were a few houses for sale on Grace Street, not as big as 302, of course, but if we wanted to stay in the neighborhood—

  Be reasonable, my reasonable side broke in. Here’s what Kary would say. “If we’re going to live on Grace Street, we might as well stay here.” Have you forgotten Kary’s a very independent woman, who likes doing things her way? What makes you think a grand gesture like a new car or a house is going to be what she wants, anyway? Do you even know what she wants, aside from a child?

  Thirty thousand dollars would go a long way toward adopting and supporting a child.

  No, I should put every cent in the bank. That would be amazingly sensible and amazingly dull. The way my career was going, I needed backup.

  Thinking of my career brought my thoughts around to the case. So what was my next move? Strangle Frieda was at the top of the list.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “I Know That My Baby’s Cheatin’ On Me”

  “Did you get up last night?”

  This question was leveled at Camden by Ellin as I came into the kitchen on Sunday morning. He was sitting at the counter, Pop-Tart in hand. He was still in his pajamas. Ellin had poured a cup of coffee from the coffeemaker. She was dressed in one of her dark blue power suits. Little gold stars dangled from her ears.

  “Up?” he said.

  “I thought maybe you had a nightmare.”

  He was incapable of more than one word at a time. “No.”

  “I could’ve sworn you were up and dressed. Were you channeling someone?” She turned to me. “It isn’t this case of yours, is it, Randall? I promise you, if you drag him into something that’s going to screw with his personality—”

  I got my coffee cup from the cabinet. “No more than usual.”

  “And is that the mirror that was in Fred’s room out in the trash? What happened? Did that devil boy break it?”

  “An accident,” Camden said. “He’s going to pay for it.”

  She leveled one of her laser stares his way. “You’d better fill me in on what’s been going on around here.”

  I poured my coffee and sat down at the counter, curious to see how Camden explained it all.

  He stalled by getting a large plastic cup and filling it with his morning cola. “Randall’s had to make several deals in order to get Beverly Huntington to come to the Carlyle House and calm her mother’s ghost. This hasn’t kept Delores from throwing major temper tantrums, including the latest when all the wallpaper fell off. Randall had to find a band that would take Beverly’s daughter, Frieda, which involved making another deal with Vangie and the Slotted Spoons. It turns out Kit is psychic and can’t control his visions, so that’s why he broke the mirror. The ghost girl at Janice’s attacked us with flying hot dogs, and Rufus tried to knock over Superior Homes with a stolen bulldozer.”

  I noticed he left out the part about going to the rival club in disguise and levitating pennies.

  Ellin took a moment. “Sorry I asked. Are any of these deals helping you find out who killed Rufus’ ex-wife?”

  He couldn’t say much more without revealing his trip to The Other Side. “We hope so.”

  Time for a diversion. “Camden, have you shown Ellin your baby picture?”

  He knew a life preserver when he saw one. “No, I haven’t.”

  She had started to take a drink of coffee and put her cup down. “What baby picture? I thought there weren’t any.”

  He retrieved the picture from the top of the piano. “We went by Green Valley the other day, and they had this.”

  Ellin’s reaction was perfect. “Oh, Cam! Look at you! You were darling! How could anyone have given up such a precious child?”

  I saw Camden’s throat work as he swallowed what must have been a large chunk of emotion. “I guess I’ll never know.”

  Ellin kissed him. “It doesn’t matter. I have you now, and I’ll never give you up.”

  Damn. Every now and then, she gets it right. Of course, it didn’t last long.

  “Can you come by the studio today?”

  “After church, Kary and I have our concert at the Carlyle House.”

  For once, she didn’t complain. “All right, stop by if you get a chance. Did you look at those brochures I brought home?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Don’t worry about Superior Homes. We could never afford one of those, and besides, I hear the company’s not doing too well.”

  This caught my attention. “Really? Know any details?”

  “The market’s not good right now, especially for luxury homes. One of the cameramen at the station has a brother who works for State Realty, and he said State was thinking of buying out Superior.”

  “That’s actually a useful bit of news, Ellin, thanks.”

  She looked bemused, as if helping me was the last thing she’d planned. She checked her watch. “I’ve got to go. See you.” She gave Camden another kiss and hurried out.

  “You should’ve gotten a baby picture a long time ago,” I said.

  He watched her go. “She’s still taking her birth control pills.”

  I poured a cup of coffee for myself. “Sorry to hear that.”

  He sighed and pushed his hair out of eyes. “It’s not fair of me to insist on children. She has to decide.”

  “But you see three in your future.”

  “And we know my future is always in question.”

  I sat down at the counter. “Maybe Kit can see it for you.”

  “That’s a very good idea.”

  “Lord knows what we’ll have to give him in return.”

  Camden sat back at his place and picked up his Pop-Tart. “You’ve read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, right? Robert Heinlein says there’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

  “Too bad Bobbi Jo paid the ultimate price.”

  He kept glancing at his baby picture. “If she didn’t plan to sell Mary Rose, how was she going to have enough money to buy a Superior Home?”

  “Maybe she had another scheme going.” When he didn’t answer right away, I said, “Camden?”

  He brought his gaze up from the picture and smiled. “Our first daughter is going to look just like me.”

  “Oh, yeah? Going to be psychic, too?”

  “All three are. At least, that’s what I see right now.”

  “Ellin will be so pleased.”

  Kary came in, carrying Tales of a Chinese Grandmother. “David, I borrowed your book. I didn’t know you were interested in Chinese fairy tales.”

  “I thought it might give me a clue about Janice’s hot dog ghost.”

  She sat down at the counter and opened the book to the middle. “These are great stories. Very different.”

  “I still bet everybody has to pay.”

  “That is a recurring theme. In ‘The Wonderful Pear Tree,’ the selfish peddler who won’t share his pears loses all of them, and in this one, ‘The Spinning Maid and the Cowherd,’ the maid leaves her loom to be with her lover, so there’ll be no more silky clothes for the gods.”

  “Oh, that will not do.”

  “Yep. The Empress of Heaven got annoyed and drew a line across the sky which became the River of Stars, otherwise known as the Silver River, or the Milky Way. It separates the lovers forever. But before you get too sad, they get to meet every seventh day of the seventh moon. The birds make a bridge for the maid. A fancy story to explain the position of the stars.”

  “Did Janice ever tell you what sign you are in the Chinese zodiac?”

  “I’m a Rat, like her. I know you’re a Dragon and Cam’s a Snake. Rufus is an Ox, and Angie’s a Pig. Don’t say anything! That’s just how it turned out.”

  “No smart remarks, I promise. Janice told me Rats and Dragons get along very well.” The perfect match, she’d said.

  “Cam, you’ll be glad to know Rats and Snakes are better friends than lovers.”

  “That’s convenient,” Camden said.

  “Fortunately, all of the animals can live together here in our lovely barn.” She took a napkin from the napkin holder and put it in the book to mark her place. “How did things go at the club?”

  “I had a real swingin’ time. The salesgirl from Oriental Imports recognized me.”

  “Whoops. Did she blow your cover?”

  “What cover?” I said, which earned me a dark look. “He did find out that Bobbi may have considered selling her child.”

  Kary shuddered. “Good Lord.”

  “I don’t think she would’ve gone through with it,” Camden said, “but she may have gotten mixed up with some really bad customers.”

  “So what’s next?”

  “Camden and I are going to let Dillon Pennix know how things are in the rival club, and I have to find another band that would be stupid enough to take Frieda.”

  Kary held up both hands. “Wait, wait. I thought she was joining Vangie’s group.”

  “Turned them down.”

  “As if she can afford to be choosy! You didn’t call off the deal with Slotted Spoon, though, did you?”

  “Of course not. But if one more person wants to make any sort of deal with me, I’m going to go all Dragon on them.”

 

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