long to find an open coffee shop.
While Kelly freshened up in the bathroom, Brick took a seat at a table in the back corner of the room.
A bone thin, middle aged waitress dressed in an orange dress with a white apron served coffee and gave him a menu. Without looking at the menu, he ordered bacon, eggs and toast.
He rummaged through the plastic bag that held Amanda's trash , annoyed she was his only lead. The wastebasket contents held crumpled binder paper, candy wrappers and empty cigarette packs, but little information. The only thing he found that might help was a flyer from a local nightclub. He read the bold fonts, a special Goth/ Industrial show was on tonight. Doors opened at eleven-thirty pm.
With the flyer stored in his pocket, he knotted the plastic bag and put it under the table. Tonight he ’d see if Amanda showed up. Clubs weren't in full swing until after midnight. It looked like it was going to be another long night.
Kelly returned and sat in a chair across the table from him. “Just toast and coffee please,” she said when the waitress returned to the table.
“ What did you find in Amanda’s trash?”
“ She eats too much chocolate. The bag is filled with candy wrappers and this.” He slid the flyer toward her. “It looks like we’re in for another late night.”
She read the notice and nodded.
He took a sip of coffee and looked out of the café's window. The street was virtually empty at this time of the morning. Sitting back he drank more of the insipid liquid. It did nothing to rev his engine. He was going to have to drink at least three or four cups of this brown water in order to give him the caffeine needed to manage the day and the long night ahead.
***
At eleven p.m. they stood in line waiting to enter the Goth nightclub. The club was in a rundown building located in an alley in the older part of Reno. No marquee hung on the building. The flyer they’d seen announcing the club was taped to a plain front door.
A tall man in a black tux wearing skull and cross bone earrings stood at the entrance. He asked for a ten-dollar per person cover charge. Brick paid. Kelly made a mental note to pay him back, along with the cost of the wig he bought.
“ When we go in, you look for Amanda. I'll take a seat where I can see most of the dance floor. Signal me, if you need me,” he whispered in her ear.
She nodded and tried to shake the creepy feeling that snaked down her spine.
Two giant stone gargoyles, sitting on faux black marble columns, stood guard at the entry of the club. In the grand room, she let her eyes adjust to the dim light. The windowless walls were draped in black velvet floor to ceiling. Tables and chairs were scattered around the room. Couches and an immense pool table sat in one corner of the room. A gigantic mirrored ball hung from a center rafter and flecks of light bounced off the attendees.
Still early by Goth standards, the room was almost empty. Jarring music played while a few people danced to it in jerky, movements. Some people seemed to be dancing with partners and the others were on the dance floor alone. It didn't seem to matter.
Though their hair might be red, blue or green, stripes or checkerboard, the attire was black. How many shades of black where there?
With everyone dressed in black, Kelly was out of place with her blonde hair and blue and white clothes. A few patrons glared, but most people ignored her.
As the night progressed the crowd grew larger. All the blackness became oppressive. The Gothic music swelled. A sea of undulating bodies moving to the strains of the odd music surrounded her. The room set her nerves on edge and she suppressed an urge to run out to the lighted street. Afraid of the dark are you? She laughed.
Brick sat at one of the tables placed at the edge of the dance floor. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw him. He was watching over her.
S he made her way around the room. Looking for Amanda, she eyed every woman who had
While Kelly freshened up in the bathroom, Brick took a seat at a table in the back corner of the room.
A bone thin, middle aged waitress dressed in an orange dress with a white apron served coffee and gave him a menu. Without looking at the menu, he ordered bacon, eggs and toast.
He rummaged through the plastic bag that held Amanda's trash , annoyed she was his only lead. The wastebasket contents held crumpled binder paper, candy wrappers and empty cigarette packs, but little information. The only thing he found that might help was a flyer from a local nightclub. He read the bold fonts, a special Goth/ Industrial show was on tonight. Doors opened at eleven-thirty pm.
With the flyer stored in his pocket, he knotted the plastic bag and put it under the table. Tonight he ’d see if Amanda showed up. Clubs weren't in full swing until after midnight. It looked like it was going to be another long night.
Kelly returned and sat in a chair across the table from him. “Just toast and coffee please,” she said when the waitress returned to the table.
“ What did you find in Amanda’s trash?”
“ She eats too much chocolate. The bag is filled with candy wrappers and this.” He slid the flyer toward her. “It looks like we’re in for another late night.”
She read the notice and nodded.
He took a sip of coffee and looked out of the café's window. The street was virtually empty at this time of the morning. Sitting back he drank more of the insipid liquid. It did nothing to rev his engine. He was going to have to drink at least three or four cups of this brown water in order to give him the caffeine needed to manage the day and the long night ahead.
***
At eleven p.m. they stood in line waiting to enter the Goth nightclub. The club was in a rundown building located in an alley in the older part of Reno. No marquee hung on the building. The flyer they’d seen announcing the club was taped to a plain front door.
A tall man in a black tux wearing skull and cross bone earrings stood at the entrance. He asked for a ten-dollar per person cover charge. Brick paid. Kelly made a mental note to pay him back, along with the cost of the wig he bought.
“ When we go in, you look for Amanda. I'll take a seat where I can see most of the dance floor. Signal me, if you need me,” he whispered in her ear.
She nodded and tried to shake the creepy feeling that snaked down her spine.
Two giant stone gargoyles, sitting on faux black marble columns, stood guard at the entry of the club. In the grand room, she let her eyes adjust to the dim light. The windowless walls were draped in black velvet floor to ceiling. Tables and chairs were scattered around the room. Couches and an immense pool table sat in one corner of the room. A gigantic mirrored ball hung from a center rafter and flecks of light bounced off the attendees.
Still early by Goth standards, the room was almost empty. Jarring music played while a few people danced to it in jerky, movements. Some people seemed to be dancing with partners and the others were on the dance floor alone. It didn't seem to matter.
Though their hair might be red, blue or green, stripes or checkerboard, the attire was black. How many shades of black where there?
With everyone dressed in black, Kelly was out of place with her blonde hair and blue and white clothes. A few patrons glared, but most people ignored her.
As the night progressed the crowd grew larger. All the blackness became oppressive. The Gothic music swelled. A sea of undulating bodies moving to the strains of the odd music surrounded her. The room set her nerves on edge and she suppressed an urge to run out to the lighted street. Afraid of the dark are you? She laughed.
Brick sat at one of the tables placed at the edge of the dance floor. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw him. He was watching over her.
S he made her way around the room. Looking for Amanda, she eyed every woman who had
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