“You’re a pain,” Eliot said.
“Jason Voorhees? You recognized who attacked you?” Jake was understandably confused. “We can get an APB out if you know who it was.”
“Jason Voorhees is the killer in Friday the 13th,” Eliot explained. “She was attacked by a guy in a mask.”
“Oh.” Jake looked disappointed. “I guess that means she doesn’t know who attacked her.”
“Only that it was a man,” I supplied.
“How can you be sure?”
“Well, other than his size, I grabbed his … you know what … and twisted for all it was worth.”
“Yes, and we’re washing your hands as soon as we can get you inside,” Eliot said, offering me a rueful smile. He was trying to make a joke to lighten the mood – and I appreciated the effort – but I had to force myself to return the smile. “Does anything hurt that shouldn’t?”
“My knee is killing me.”
“Yeah, well, I can see that,” Eliot said. “You’ll be limping for a few days. When that stiffens … you’re going to be in pain.”
“I’m already in pain.”
“You’re definitely a pain,” Duncan intoned, leaning against his car with his arms crossed over his chest. “Does anyone care that I’m still covered in goo?”
“Not even remotely,” Eliot replied, scorching Duncan with a harsh look. “In fact, if you want to live through the rest of the afternoon, you’d better shut your mouth.”
“Did you hear that, Sheriff Farrell? He threatened my life. I want him arrested.”
“I didn’t hear a thing,” Jake said, lowering himself to the ground so he could look me over. “She has marks over here, too.”
“I saw them,” Eliot said. “We need some antiseptic and bandages. We need to clean these scrapes up first, though. There’s dirt in them.”
“Maybe we should take her to the hospital,” Jake suggested.
“I’m not going to the hospital.”
“Shh,” Eliot admonished. “No one is talking to you.” He shifted his eyes to Jake. “She doesn’t appear to have any broken bones. She’ll be sore tomorrow.”
“Well, maybe that will keep her out of trouble for a few days,” Jake said. “It will certainly stop her from hiding behind displays and eavesdropping.”
“I wasn’t eavesdropping!”
“You were eavesdropping,” Jake said. “I don’t really care, though. It’s not as if we were talking about something important.”
Well, it was good to know where I ranked. “So I’m not important?”
Eliot narrowed his eyes. “What makes you think we were talking about you?”
“I heard you.”
“I did say that thing about you being perfect in her world,” Jake offered.
“Yeah, but you were talking about me before then,” I argued. Hey, if I was going to be drawn into a serious discussion I wanted to use my injuries as ammunition. They would both let me off the hook if they thought I was in pain. “I heard you.”
“We were not.”
“Yes, you were,” I shot back. “You were telling Eliot about my attitude because I saw you with those … harlots.”
“What harlots?” Eliot asked, furrowing his brow. “What is going on?”
Uh-oh. This wasn’t going the way I expected. “The ones I saw Jake with when I found him. I … crap.”
“Yes, crap,” Jake said. “That’s not what we were talking about. We were talking about a door that wasn’t working correctly in the back of the building and Eliot said he would handle the situation but I was crabby and pushed him on it.”
“Oh, well … then all is right in our world.”
“Not really,” Eliot said dryly. “What were you talking about?”
“Um … .” Crud on toast with a burnt cracker. How do I keep doing this to myself?
“We had a small argument,” Jake offered. “It was nothing big. She just … acted weird. I thought something was going on with her because she didn’t like the women I was talking to.”
“You thought she was jealous,” Eliot surmised. “That’s it, right?”
“I … maybe,” Jake conceded. “I’m sure it’s not that.”
Eliot glanced at me. “Were you jealous?”
I nodded. What? There’s no sense in lying now. He already knows. “Not for the reason he thinks, though.”
Eliot bit his bottom lip as he fought to contain his temper. “Okay. What reason?”
“I was fine with the Avatar chick and whatever that other one was … .”
“Outlander,” Jake supplied. “She was from Outlander.”
“Oh, that’s why I didn’t recognize her,” I said. “I haven’t watched that. Anyway, they didn’t bother me. I think Jake would have fun rolling around with a chick covered in blue body paint. He needs to get down and dirty. He’s wound too tight these days.”
“Okay,” Eliot said. “What bothered you?”
“There was a woman dressed in Princess Leia’s slave costume and Jake wouldn’t stop looking down her bikini top.”
“That’s not true,” Jake protested. “That’s completely untrue.”
“I saw it. Don’t bother denying it.”
“And that bothered you?” Eliot pressed, forcing me to nod. “Is that all?” I nodded again. “Well, I understand that. It’s okay. Just … there’s no need to pick a fight over any of this. We’re in a weird place right now and we’re all doing the best we can. It will get better in a few weeks.”
“You understand it?” Jake was incredulous. “What do you understand?”
“She was upset because of the outfit,” Eliot replied. “Star Wars is her thing. If you picked any other geeky girl – including the Star Trek nurse I agitated her with – you would’ve been fine. She’s the queen of the Star Wars realm, though. You can’t mess with that.”
Holy crap! He really did get me. Here I was thinking I was being immature and irrational yet he got me. I’m definitely buying more lottery tickets.
“You two are extremely odd,” Jake said. “You know that, right? I have no idea what’s going on, but … you’re just odd.”
“And we’re going to stay that way,” Eliot said, slipping his arms around my waist and helping me to my feet. He cringed when I whimpered. “Are you going to be okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m tough.”
“You are tough,” he agreed. “We’ll finish talking about this inside, though. I want to get those scrapes cleaned out and put some ice on that knee.”
“And get me some ice cream,” I added.
“And get you some ice cream,” Eliot conceded. “We’ll do it in the control room. There are cameras pointed toward the parking lot. Maybe they picked up something.”
“Well, then let’s definitely do that,” Jake said. “I want to see this Jason guy for myself.”
“You need to watch more movies,” I said. “You’re a pop culture nun or something. It’s not attractive.”
“Yes, well, I’ll consider it,” Jake said, helping Eliot ease me through the cars.
“Does anyone care about me?” Duncan asked, furious. “Where are the clothes you promised?”
“I dropped them as I was running,” Eliot replied. “Since you couldn’t help Avery, I have no intention of helping you find them. You’re on your own.”
“I did help Avery. I called for aid.”
“You’re a putz,” Eliot shot back. “You stay away from her – and me, for that matter – for the rest of the day. I don’t even want to see you.”
“That goes double for me,” I said, sticking my tongue out for good measure as Jake and Eliot helped me toward the building. “I also double up on you being a putz.”
“I hate you,” Duncan hissed.
“I believe there’s a fan club meeting every Thursday and there are a ton of people there who agree with you,” I said. “Maybe you can be the treasurer or something.”
What? It never hurts to kick people when they’re down, especially when
they’re tools and you have a sheriff and security stud backing you up. Yes, I’m a terrible person. I’m fine with it, though.
16
Sixteen
“That hurts!”
“Stop being a baby.”
“You’re being a baby.”
“I will gag you both if you don’t knock that off,” Eliot warned, walking into the small office located at the front of the convention center, his arms laden with first aid supplies. “Why are you fighting?”
Jake shrugged as he straightened. He’d been poking my knee for what felt like forever. “I’m keyed up. I like to fight when I’m keyed up.”
“You have that in common with her,” Eliot said, flashing a small smile as he unloaded the supplies on the counter where I sat. “Do you feel okay otherwise, Trouble? You’re positive nothing is broken, right?”
“I’m just banged up,” I replied. “There’s no reason to freak out.”
“I’m not freaking out.”
“Well, I’m not freaking out.”
“I’m freaking out a little,” Jake admitted, tugging a frustrated hand through his hair. “Why were you attacked?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea. Some people simply don’t like me. I know it boggles the mind, but there it is.”
Despite himself, Jake smirked. “It’s definitely mind boggling,” he said. “What were you doing right before this happened, though?”
“Talking to Duncan,” I said. “He was covered in green goo and complaining like a woman with constant PMS, and then Eliot came up and offered to help and we agreed to meet in the parking lot.”
“How did Duncan end up covered in green goo?”
“I think it was karma.”
“Yes, that would be nice,” Jake drawled. “How did he really end up covered in goo?”
“I made him cover the Paranormal Delights event out in the courtyard,” I answered. “I figured it would be messy. Eliot and I tried to watch the movie in theaters a couple of months ago, but it was terrible. It was one of those shaky-camera affairs that make absolutely no sense. I mean … if you’re being chased by murderous ghosts that cover you in slime, why would you pick up a camera to film it?”
Jake was dumbfounded. “Do you have a point?”
“Always.”
“What is it?”
“She’s just saying that she wasn’t doing anything,” Eliot supplied. “You’ve known her long enough to recognize that she rambles when she’s nervous. Keep up.”
“Oh, so sorry,” Jake said, pressing his hand to the spot above his heart. “I’m not sure how this ended up being about me, but … .”
“It’s not about you,” I said, cutting him off. “I was just explaining that I wasn’t doing anything right before the attack. Even I’m shocked. I laughed at Duncan being covered in goo – and just for the record, the movie explained that the goo built up over time because the ghosts were sexually repressed, so it’s like ghost sex goo – and I talked to Eliot. That’s all I did.”
“There has to be more to the story,” Jake argued. “Wait … is there really such a thing as ghost sex goo?”
“Probably not.”
“I’m going to say definitely not,” Eliot said, spraying antiseptic onto a gauze pad. “That does make the entire thing funnier, though. I’m sure you’re going to have a field day with that when you get back to the office.”
“Yeah, I’m going to beat that dead ghost until there’s nothing left to beat. Wait … that sounded kind of sexual and gross, didn’t it?”
“Yes, but it was still funny,” Eliot said, carefully pressing the pad to my knee and cringing when I sucked in a breath. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I gritted out.
“It hurts now, but I bet it’s going to be worse tomorrow,” Eliot said. “It’s not okay, but we have to do it.”
“I understand.”
Jake shook his head as he studied us. “You guys have a unique relationship,” he said after a beat. “You really do get her. You get her more than I ever did.”
My heart went out to Jake. He almost looked lost, which was upsetting because he’s the most self-assured man I know. “Eliot is a saint when he wants to be.”
“He has to be to put up with you,” Jake said, shaking himself out of his reverie and flicking my nose. “I’ll handle the scrapes on your arm over here. You need to tell us what happened in the parking lot.”
“I don’t really know what happened,” I admitted, closing my eyes as Eliot pressed the pad into my knee with more force. “We were just walking … and Duncan was ranting and raving like a madman … and then I saw something out of the corner of my eye. When I turned to look, he was already on top of me.
“It took me a moment to realize what was happening,” I continued. “I didn’t get it. I saw the Jason mask and the knife, but in my head it wasn’t cause for alarm because this is a comic book convention. I just thought it was an excited fan.”
“That’s probably what he was banking on,” Jake said, dabbing antiseptic on my arm. “That’s why he didn’t stand out and still managed to hide his identity.”
“Yeah, well, Jason is my favorite movie killer,” I said. “It was kind of awesome.”
“I wonder if that was on purpose,” Eliot mused, switching out pads before returning to his ministrations on my knee.
“What do you mean?” Jake asked.
“Maybe someone knew Jason was her favorite and that would be the easiest way to distract her,” Eliot said. “Have you told anyone about your Friday the 13th love?”
I pondered the question and then shook my head. “I didn’t see any Friday the 13th stuff inside. I did mention liking The Ring and looked at the sequel display, but that’s it. Otherwise I’ve been geeking out over the Star Trek and Star Wars stuff.”
“That sounds about right,” Eliot said. “Still, if we’re to believe someone purposely dressed like Jason, then we have to believe that it’s someone who knows you. I’m not sure I’m willing to suspend disbelief and go that far. It makes no sense for someone to track you down here and go after you.”
“It could just be a coincidence,” Jake offered. “Maybe whoever it is just got lucky. What were you doing before you saw Duncan covered in goo, Avery?”
“Eavesdropping on you.”
Jake snorted. “Well, at least you admit it,” he said. “You did other things today, though. I saw you talking to people. Were you interviewing them about the convention or Kristen Reardon?”
“Both. I would say the questions were mostly weighted toward Kristen, though.”
“Did anyone act strangely?”
I shook my head. “Everyone seemed open to answering questions but no one really knew her,” I replied. “I got different answers for every question, and some people didn’t even know who she was because their descriptions didn’t match.”
“Yeah. We’ve been running into brick walls there, too.” I knew Jake was mostly talking to himself so I didn’t press him. “You must’ve set someone off, though. They clearly didn’t like you asking questions.”
“I have no idea,” I said. “I’ve been interviewing people for hours and I would estimate I’ve talked to at least fifty people.”
“And we don’t know it’s someone she talked to,” Eliot added. “Someone else could’ve mentioned she was asking questions. There’s no limit to suspects here.”
“You’ve got that right,” Jake said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Okay. Let’s get her bundled up and watch the security video. We’ll see if that leads to anything good.”
“Don’t forget my ice cream,” I said. “I’m injured. I need ice cream to make me feel better.”
“I won’t forget your ice cream,” Eliot said, brushing a strand of hair from my face. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Oh, I might gag,” Jake muttered.
I ignored him. “I’m glad I’m okay, too. I still want ice cream.”
Eliot blew out a sigh. “I’m on it. Chocolate?
”
“Blue Moon.”
“Of course,” Eliot said. “I’ll get the ice cream and then we’ll watch a video.”
“That’s my idea of fun.”
“THERE I am.”
I licked my ice cream cone and watched Eliot maneuver through the parking lot video feed.
“There you are,” Jake agreed, smirking when he got a gander at Duncan’s big hand gestures. “What is he complaining about?”
“Eliot.”
“What did I do?” Eliot asked. “I was buying him clothes. By the way, I got him a shirt with Wonder Woman’s bathing suit on it … you know the ones that make it look as if you’re dressing in a costume? I thought that would make you happy.”
“Oh, you’re so good to me,” I cooed. In truth, my knee was tightening up and I was starting to feel the effects of my fall. I was exhausted but didn’t want to admit the only thing I wanted to do was lie down.
“You two make me want to puke,” Jake complained.
“That’s because you’re not getting any,” I supplied. “I suggest going for the chick in the blue paint. She had a nice body. If you touch that Princess Leia, though, I’ll kick you in your special place.”
Eliot snorted as he rubbed the back of my neck. “Calm down, Tiger. Jake can pick his own partners. Although I do agree it’s a little rude if he ruins your Star Wars reign.”
“Can someone explain that to me?” Jake asked. “Why is it okay to sleep with the Avatar chick – not that I’m going to, mind you – but not the Star Wars chick?”
“Because when you think of Star Wars, you should be thinking of Avery,” Eliot supplied. “It’s almost a betrayal to do it with Princess Leia. Also, from a personal standpoint, I don’t want you thinking of Avery when you do it.”
Jake frowned. “You know I did it with her first, don’t you?”
Now it was Eliot’s turn to scowl. “Don’t remind me.”
“Let’s not talk about this,” I suggested. “I don’t think it’s good for any of us. It makes us tense.”
“You make me tense,” Jake shot back.
Bylines & Skylines (An Avery Shaw Mystery Book 9) Page 14
