“That’s what you get for trying to mess with me. I watched your man eat four slices of pizza, then walk five miles around a castle. Ain’t nothing wrong with his stomach.”
Dice appeared behind Daphne. “You’re no fun.”
“You’re no dice.”
“Go tell him what he wants to know before y’all wake up London,” Daphne whispered harshly.
“Fine,” Dice said and stepped into the hall, closing the door to their room behind him. “What is it?”
“Church,” I groaned. “Tell me what the fuck happened at church.”
“The tentative plan is to locate the party and put a stop to them once and for all,” Dice said. “They hadn’t worked out the details when I talked to Phoenix.”
“That’s it?” I asked, shocked that I would have to wait until our next scheduled call with Phoenix to get more information.
“Yeah, that’s it. What did you expect?”
“Details,” I said honestly. “I knew everything you said before we left. I hate not being able to use my phone.”
Dice laughed and clapped me on the shoulder. “I’m sorry, man. It’s not funny, but it is. Now you know how the rest of us felt when club business involved our women.”
“She’s not …” I started but stopped abruptly.
“Yes, she is,” Dice chuckled. “Congratulations, man! And welcome to the club.” With that, he returned to his room, leaving me standing in the hallway alone with my feelings—the ones no one asked him to point out.
“How much longer are you gonna keep standing there pretending you’re not in love with my grandbaby?” Fletcher asked, startling me. “Because I’d like to go to sleep, and you’re setting off my motion detectors. If you’re not a ghost, you’re an intruder, and I shoot intruders.”
“I’m going,” I said. “But why do you have motion detectors?”
“My great-grandbaby isn’t the only one who wasn’t crazy about spending a week in a haunted castle. That’s why she’s up here with me. I’ll know if something tries to get us.”
I honestly didn’t know if the man was serious about something getting them, but I knew he was serious about watching over Ariel. So, I left him to it. “Night, Fletcher.”
“Night, dumbass.”
“Dumbass?”
“Everyone knows it but you, dumbass.”
“How about a bowling tournament,”I suggested after dinner Thursday evening. I knew I wouldn’t be able to think about anything other than what was happening at the party, but I didn’t want to put a damper on anyone’s fun.
When I mentioned it to Presley, she suggested bowling, since we still hadn’t used the bowling alley. It sounded good to me, so we mentioned it to Dice and Daphne.
“I think that’s a great idea,” Presley said dutifully.
“Me too,” Daphne said.
“I love bowling!” Dice said with too much enthusiasm.
Yeah, that fucker was getting acting lessons for Christmas.
“I think that sounds like a wonderful idea,” Alice said.
“I smell a setup,” Buck said. “But I’ll go along with it.”
“Wanna bet?” I asked.
“Now we know you’re up to something,” Walter added.
