Dark Carnival Murders by Bob Moats Page B

but I could use a meal. Are you going to wake Angelo or
attempt to cook yourself?"
    She whacked my arm and
went into the kitchen, I followed.
    We had microwave treats,
Penny’s best way of cooking and then headed to bed. Willy was put
on his Bate’s Motel chair and circled a few times before plopping
down with a snort. We were in bed quickly and Penny snuggled close.
She was asleep before I could even get comfortable, she could do
that very easily. I lay there thinking about what may go down
tonight; hopefully it would come to an end. I slept well this
morning.
    Morning, Penny was already
out of bed, I didn’t hear anything from the kitchen so I figured
Angelo was busy with his mother and Gino. Then I figured Penny
would be back to her bowl of oatmeal and I would be toasting slices
of bread. We shouldn’t get used to Angelo’s cooking, he may move
any day now. I thought about fronting the money so Angelo could
open his restaurant, but I’d hate to lose him as a bodyguard. I’d
ask him about it to see how he felt.
    I got up and went to my
bathroom and readied my body for the day. I was shaved, showered,
groomed and dressed to go out and fight crime. Penny was now
banging pans and I went out to see what she was up to.
Surprisingly, she cooked up pancakes for us.
    "Well, I see Angelo has
rubbed off on you."
    She smiled and put the
dish in front of me. We ate and it wasn’t half bad, then I
collected the plates and we kissed at the door to go to our
jobs.
    "Are you going to see
Francis today?" I asked as we walked to our vehicles.
    "Later, she’s spending
time with Angelo this morning, they are sightseeing."
    "Good, I’ll see you
later."
    I came through the back
door of the office setting off the cowbell and waved to the camera.
I went to my office and sat checking my email, nothing again. I was
offended that no one even cared enough to send me spam.
    Lacey came to the door and
said, "Talked to Mac this morning, it’s good you guys are going to
get the boys back."
    "I’m just hoping all goes
well. Any messages for me?"
    "Nope, nobody cares enough
to leave you messages."
    "Thanks for the ray of
sunshine, go do some work to earn your raise."
    She laughed and went
off.
    I picked up the phone to
call the Walkers and the Feltons, being cautious about what I was
going to tell them. They both responded well and I gave them some
hope. I sat back as my cell phone buzzed, caller ID said it was
Lynn.
    "I hope you don’t have any
bad news," I said.
    "Well, not for the boys,
but there was another jewelry store hit last night. Same M.O., door
unlocked, no alarm."
    "Dark is spreading his men
out. I thought robbery was going to watch the stores?"
    "We couldn’t watch all of
them, Vegas just has too many, they happened to hit one we didn’t
have eyes on. I don’t know if they knew we were watching or just
lucky. Heard from Buck yet?"
    "No, I’m just waiting,
hopefully they’ll find out something."
    Earl walked in and I
signaled him to sit. "Where are you?" I asked Lynn.
    "I’m at the jewelry store
trying to get any connection to Dark. Robbery is cooperating in
this since we have a common connection. Why don’t you stop by and
do some snooping. It’s near the corner of Tropicana and Decatur,
watch for all the black and whites. "
    "We’ll do
that."
    We?" she said
cautiously.
    "Yeah, Earl just came
in."
    "Oh goody, we really need
him this morning," she laughed and hung up, I put my phone back in
my pocket.
    "What?" Earl asked. "You
were talking about me."
    "It’s nothing really,
she’s happy you are on the case."
    "That’s not what she
really said is it?"
    "Earl she likes you, even
if you annoy her."
    "I do no such thing, do
I?," Earl said with indignation.
    "Yesterday you suggested
she become a stripper, she’s a sensitive person right now since
she’s pregnant."
    "Oh yeah, I forgot about
that. I’ll try to be more understanding."
    "Shall we go check out
another robbery of a jewelry store?"
    "Again? Boy, Dark must
need