Easy Like Sunday Mourning

by Jennie Marts

  They’d followed Jeremy’s car into the garage, but had lost sight of it in the maze of the parking structure. Tumbling from the minivan, they all got out and stretched after the hour-long car chase. Once they had been on the highway for half an hour and were fairly certain of their destination, some of the drama went out of the excitement of the chase.

  “This way.” Piper waved them forward. She had left the hockey helmet in the car, and her blond hair now lay smashed against her head.

  Maggie moved forward, so engrossed with watching the costumed participants walk by that she almost ran into Edna, who had come to a dead stop in front of her.

  “Edna. Holy crap, I almost ran over you.” Maggie sighed. “What are you doing?”

  Edna was standing behind an old burgundy-colored car. She had stopped to look at the car and was digging into her purse. “I’ve seen this car before. It’s an old Mercury Marquis, probably from the early eighties. My husband used to have one. Not in this god-awful color, but about the same model.”

  “That’s great that you’re enjoying memory lane, but we need to hurry,” Sunny said, always the kind one.

  At the same time Maggie blurted out, “So what? We gotta go!”

  Edna found what she was digging for in her purse and pulled free a pen and a small notebook. “If you’d hold your pea-picking horses, I need to write down the license plate.”

  “Why? What are you going to do with his license plate number? Track down the owner? Talk about old car memories?” Maggie’s impatience came out in her snide tone.

  “Yes, I do want to track down the owner. You weren’t listening,” Edna explained. “I’ve seen this car before. Because we used to have one, I know they’re not very common. Especially not this weird burgundy color. But I saw this one the night we stopped at Jeremy’s office. The night Jim was murdered. I’m sure this car was parked in Jeremy’s parking lot next to his office.”

  Maggie’s face flamed with heat from shame. This was not the first time her impatience and sarcasm had put her in an embarrassing situation. “Sorry, Edna. I’m just stressed. I shouldn’t have been mean.”

  Edna pushed the notebook back into her purse and started walking. And at a fairly good clip for an elderly woman. She called over her shoulder. “I’m used to it. I still love you. But come on, we’ve got a nerd to follow.”

  A teenage boy dressed as a zombie in a Superman costume turned to Edna, obviously overhearing her remark. He smiled at the old lady wearing a baseball cap crookedly on her head and gave her a thumbs-up sign. “Right on.”

  The book club stepped out of the garage into the blinding sun and came to a dead stop. Not as dead as the zombie Superman, but they stopped nonetheless. The only one not squinting against the bright sun was Sunny, who still wore the neon-green sunglasses.

  “Holy geek-squad. That is a lot of nerds.” Piper held her arm up to block the sun.

  A huge banner stating “Welcome to Comic Con” hung above the convention center’s main doors. From the doors, a line of every imaginable costumed comic book character snaked around the building for a good city block.

  The women walked to the back of the line, passing Jedi warriors, Storm Troopers, a couple of Batmans, at least three Spider-Mans, and several Spocks. It seemed every woman they passed was barely wearing some form of a slutty character’s outfit. Maggie didn’t think that many female characters sported so much cleavage.

  Cassie groaned. They’d finally made it to the back of the line. “We’re gonna be in this line forever.”

  “Yeah, and I haven’t seen Jeremy in the last ten minutes.” Piper craned her neck to look up the rows of people standing in front of them.

  “I tried to watch as we walked past the line and I never saw him,” Maggie said.

  “I tried to watch too, but I kept getting distracted, looking at all the costumes.” Edna pointed toward the front of the line. “Did you see that big guy up there dressed as Chewbacca? That looked like real fur.”

  “Like real fur? From what? A Wookie?” A stab of pain hit her in the heart at the reminder of the big dog that had recently captured Jeremy’s heart. A heart she felt she had a place in. At least up until a few hours ago. Maggie shook her head and focused back on Edna. “And quit pointing.”

  Edna shrugged. “Hey, you wouldn’t put on a Chewbacca costume and not expect a few people to point at you.”

  “That’s a true statement,” Sunny said, then reached for her pocket as her cell phone rang. She pulled it free and held it to her ear. “Hey, Jake.” She listened for a few seconds, then looked around and nodded. “I see it. We’ll meet you over there.”

  She snapped the phone shut and pulled the women out of line and toward a door marked “Staff Only—West Entrance.” “That was Jake. He’s already inside. He’s gonna let us in.”

  Speak of the gorgeous devil, the staff entrance door opened and Jake stood there, grinning like a kid in a candy store. “This place is so cool. Have you seen all these costumes?”

  Sunny pushed up on her toes, planting a kiss on Jake’s cheek. “Yes, honey. We have seen a few costumes.”

  Each of the women said hi to Jake as they walked past him and into the dimly lit area beyond the door. It looked to be a storage area of some sort, with boxes and conference-type equipment stacked on the floor.

  Jake stopped Maggie as she came through the door, pulling her into a tight hug and speaking into her ear. “I know this looks bad, but don’t give up on him. I really believe Jeremy is a good guy. There’s going to be a reasonable explanation to this.”

  Maggie squeezed him back, fighting against the pin prick of tears that his words brought to her eyes. She wanted to believe what Jake was saying. She wanted to believe that this was all some strange set of coincidences. That Jeremy hadn’t lied and that he hadn’t stayed overnight in a motel with the cleavage-laden blond programmer. Maybe they were just working. She wanted to believe him, but her prior experience with men told her otherwise. “Thanks, Jake. I hope you’re right.”

  The group gathered around Jake and he passed them each a lanyard with a clear pouch attached to it and what looked like a hotel key card encased in the pouch. “Here, put these on. They’re your passes to get into the convention. Everyone is wearing one.”

  Sunny pulled the lanyard over her head. “How did you get these?”

  “It’s all about knowing a guy.” Jake gave her one of his killer grins. “And I know a guy that’s up here working security for the convention. Bobby and I worked together on a case several years back. I called him as I was driving up. He let me in and had VIP passes waiting for all of us. These will get you into any area of the Con.”

  “Good job,” Maggie said. “But have you seen Jeremy?”

  Jake nodded. “I saw him across the convention floor about ten minutes ago, but he was too far away to get to. I did see his costume, though.”

  “What? He’s in a costume?” Maggie couldn’t believe that he just happened to have a costume all prepared in the back of his car. “That must have been what he was carrying in the duffel bag. But why would he have that in his car?”

  “I told you that he talked to me about his plans to come up to this.” Jake said. “But with Jim’s death, he wasn’t sure if he should come.”

  Anger flared in Maggie’s gut. He had told Jake about his plans, but not her. What else was he keeping from her? “I guess a call from his ‘girlfriend’ must have convinced him.”

  Sunny laid a comforting hand on Maggie’s arm. “Don’t jump to any conclusions. We haven’t heard Jeremy’s side of the story yet.”

  Maggie wouldn’t jump to any conclusions, but she might jump on a certain blond bimbo’s head and then do a pile-driver with an elbow to her side. “All right, so what’s our plan? How are we going to find Jeremy?”

  “That may be a problem,” Jake explained. “His costume is some Jedi Knight thing. I think it’s Obi-Wan Kenobi’s.”

  “Why is that a problem?” Piper asked. “Even I could re
cognize that.”

  “Because there are only about a hundred and fifty other Jedi Knight costumes out there. Wait until you step on the convention floor. It’s madness.” Jake leaned back and looked the group over, obviously surveying their disguises. “And you all are gonna stick out like crazy. We need some costumes to blend in.”

  Jake led them through the maze of behind-the-scenes equipment and stopped at the back of a large booth surrounded by thick royal-purple curtains. He pulled the curtain back, and they stepped into a large vendor booth with rows of hangered costumes and props lining the curtained walls.

  A slim, dark-haired woman in her mid-forties wearing a skin-tight black cat suit with shiny yellow boots, a yellow utility belt, and a yellow Batman symbol on her chest, approached them from the front of the booth. “You must be Jake.” Her voice was smooth as velvet, and she smiled warmly at the book club members. “And these are your friends. Bobby told me you might be stopping by. I’m Allegra, and I’ll be happy to help any way I can.”

  “Thanks, Allegra.” Jake smiled at her, then gestured to the women surrounding him. “This is Sunny, Maggie, Cassie, Edna, and Piper. We all need costumes that will allow us to blend in, but disguise who we are. And we need them quickly.”

  Allegra stepped back and looked each of them up and down. She moved her mouth from side to side, as if this helped her think or determine their sizes. “Okay, I think I’ve got it. Look around to see if you see anything special you love, otherwise I’ll be back in a minute with some ideas.” She disappeared up one of the rows of clothing.

  The group spread out, marveling at the choices. Maggie looked around in dismay at the walls of props. “I hate dressing up. I don’t even like Halloween. Can’t I just wear this ball cap?”

  Cassie, who was the best shopper of the bunch, was already rifling through the hangers. “Oh, stop it. Jeremy could pick you out of a crowd in a second. For once, just go with the flow.” She held up a green ninja suit. “How about this one? You could wear a ninja hood over your hair.”

  Maggie gave her one of her looks. “Put that back.” Pulling out one of the price tags, she almost choked. She looked up at Jake. “We can’t afford six of these costumes. These are ridiculously expensive.”

  Jake held up a shiny credit card. “Oh yes, we can. Jeremy’s buying. He gave me a corporate card and told me to use it for whatever will help the investigation. If this helps, then great, money well spent. If we find out he’s a lying cheat, which I don’t think he is, then it will serve him right to have to pay for these.”

  Although a tad skewed, Maggie liked his logic. She decided it wouldn’t hurt to dress up. A little. If it helped them to fit in.

  Allegra appeared, her arms laden with colored fabrics and plastic bags of props. She pointed to the wall, which was cordoned off with tiny curtained dressing rooms. “I tried to find ones that had a mask or something to cover your faces.” She handed them each a costume.

  Piper and Edna must have found something they liked, because they were already tucked behind two of the curtained rooms.

  Handing one of the bags to Cassie, Allegra winked. “I can tell this outfit is going to be perfect for you. And it will show off your best features.”

  Cassie was constantly talking about going on a diet and the extra weight she had put on since having the kids. Maggie thought she looked great and carried the little extra “mom” weight with the confidence of a woman who was happily married and knew she was loved and adored by a man waiting for her at home.

  “I thought you might enjoy being Batgirl.” Allegra passed a bagged costume to Sunny.

  Sunny looked at the bag and at Allegra’s skin-tight cat suit with dismay. “There is no way that I am getting my curves into a little suit like that.”

  Allegra laughed. “Don’t worry. This costume is a little different style. I think you’ll love it.”

  Jake looked down at the gray and black costume Allegra had handed him and a huge grin lit up his face. He grabbed Sunny by the waist and pulled her into the dressing room with him. “Come on, Sunny. We can share this one and you can help me with the zipper.”

  Maggie took the costume and plastic bag of props from Allegra and stepped behind a curtain. She could hear Sunny giggling from behind the curtained wall of her fitting room. “No hanky-panky in there. Just get dressed. We have work to do.”

  “Don’t be such a buzz-kill.” Edna’s voice drifted up from another dressing room. “There’s always time for a little hanky-panky.”

  Maggie shook her head and put on the outfit Allegra had chosen for her. She had to smile a little. The shop owner couldn’t have picked a better costume for the closet gamer that she was. Maggie looked at herself in the mirror.

  She wore a black tank top tucked into a slim pair of black shorts. Two gun holsters hung down from the edges of the shorts and the straps wrapped around her upper thighs. Tall military boots with black socks completed the outfit. She pulled her hair into a long ponytail at the back of her head, and her transformation was complete. She was a dead ringer for Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft.

  She stepped from the curtained room and laughed in delight as Cassie stood in front of her in a Wonder Woman costume. She wore tall shiny red boots, and her full hips were covered by a blue skirt covered in white stars. Gold cuffs enclosed each of her wrists, and a matching gold tiara was stuck in the long black wig that covered Cassie’s blond hair. A red corset top pushed Cassie’s “best features” up, and a red cape was tied at her neck. Cassie’s face gleamed with a bit of a naughty smile as she twirled in front of her friend. “What do you think?”

  “It’s perfect.” Sunny stepped from the dressing room wearing a short black neoprene dress. The same yellow Batman symbol and utility belt that Allegra wore adorned Sunny’s dress, but the short skirt was more fitting to Sunny’s curves. She also had a black cape tied around her neck and a black bat-shaped mask covered her face. Shiny yellow high-heeled boots made Sunny two inches taller.

  Maggie laughed. “You guys look great. Cassie, I wouldn’t even recognize you in that black wig. And Sunny, I love the Batgirl outfit. Now all you need is the Dark Knight to go with it.”

  “She already has him.” A deep, throaty voice spoke from the dressing room, and Jake stepped out in a full Batman costume, complete with a rubberized black hood covering his head and eyes. Every muscle in Jake’s hard body was outlined in a light gray body suit. He wore a black utility belt over black Speedo-style trunks. Tall black boots encased his calves. Jake wore a goofy grin, and he lost the deep Batman voice in favor of one reminiscent of his junior high years. “Isn’t this the coolest?”

  Maggie blinked, not quite sure what to say. All she could think was that Sunny was one lucky woman.

  “Holy hotness, Batman!” Leave it to Edna. She always had something to say.

  Maggie turned to look at Edna at the same time that Piper pulled back the curtain and stepped from the dressing room. “What the heck? You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  Cassie and Sunny broke into laughter as they regarded their fellow book club members.

  Edna and Piper both wore the same costume of a Catholic school girl.

  However, Piper’s short kilted skirt fit perfectly on her petite teenage frame. She wore white knee socks with short lace-up boots. She had tied the white button-up in a knot at her waist, a thin band of her flat stomach visible below the shirt. To complete her ensemble, she wore a wig of neon blue hair tied into high ponytails on either side of her head.

  One of Edna’s knee socks was bunched around her ankle above her thick-soled orthopedic old-lady shoes. Her white shirt was buttoned to her neck, and she wore a striped necktie. The skirt of her outfit hung low above her wrinkled bony knees.

  Piper examined Edna’s outfit and gave a sigh of exasperation. “Edna, you are one crazy old lady.”

  Edna smiled mischievously. “You got that right.”

  Maggie finally found her voice. “What the heck are you two supposed to be?”


  Piper pointed at Edna. “I don’t know for sure what she’s supposed to be, but I am a character from Sailor Moon. It’s anime. Like animated Japanese cartoons. I just need a sword.”

  Allegra passed Piper a plastic sword and holster from the props behind her. “This should work. And I have something for you too, Miss Edna. I’ll be right back.” She disappeared around the clothes rack.

  “This is great.” Piper buckled the holster across her chest.

  “Where’s my sword?” Edna asked. “I think I could do some serious swash-buckling.”

  Piper rolled her eyes. “We’re not pirates, Edna.”

  Allegra emerged from the clothes rack with a long black robe in her hands. “Here, this will work perfectly. Put this on over your outfit, pull the hood up, and you will totally pass for Hermione Granger.”

  Jake took the robe from her and held it out for Edna to slide her arms into. Once she had it on, the Hogwarts insignia was visible on the right breast pocket.

  Edna pulled the hood over her hair. “Hey, this isn’t bad. And I’m so short, I could totally pass for a teenager.”

  Not one person had the guts to argue with her.

  Allegra handed Maggie a black ball cap and a pair of mirrored Aviator sunglasses. “I brought these for you. They’re Lara’s style, and may help to mask your identity.”

  “Good thinking.” Maggie pulled the cap and glasses on. “Okay. I think we’re ready. Let’s go find Jeremy.”

  Piper held out her hand. “I was thinking that we don’t want to be lugging all of our regular clothes around. Aunt Cassie, if you give me your keys, I’ll take everybody’s stuff out to the car.”

  Cassie nodded. “Good idea. I’ll come with you, then we can meet up with everyone inside the main convention area.”

  Maggie handed Cassie her purse and stack of clothes. “Call my cell when you come back in, and I’ll tell you where we are.” She smacked her forehead with her hand. “Never mind. I have no phone. Mine took a face-plant into a toilet. Call Sunny’s phone.”

  Once Jake handed Allegra the credit card, she made short work of ringing up their costumes. Maggie saw the receipt she passed back to him and cringed at the total. Oh well. According to Jake, Jeremy could afford it.