Page 46 of Starved Until Sunset

“Why should this be any different from all the other times?” Cody said, perfectly aware of his grumpy tone.

“You doing okay over there?” Demmy placed a hand on his thigh.

Cody glanced over. “Honestly?”

“Always.”

“I’m conflicted.”

“About meeting Zenona?”

“About all of it.” Cody blew out a breath. “I mean, what we saw last night, and Spiffy just… gone. And now Pete’s even more out there. It’s escalating, and I don’t like when these kinds of things escalate.” He was quiet a moment, then shivered and wiped at his face. “And I really hate the fact that suddenly a whole flock of bats can now drop out of the sky and flap all around us. What the fuck is that about?” He looked over long enough for Demmy to give a shrug, then turned his attention back to the road. “Sorry. Just freaked me out. Both times!”

“I know. I’m sorry we’re getting pulled into something like this yet again.”

“Yeah,” Cody said, but in a noncommittal tone, because he didn’t think Demmy was sorry about it at all. “Let’s find out what Zee has to say, and then we can decide about our level of involvement.”

“That’s a good plan.”

Cody found a space in the parking garage attached to the hospital, and they walked across the connecting breezeway. They bypassed a group of people standing by the elevators and took the single flight of stairs down to the lobby. The familiar grouping of benches and chairs they usually occupied for meetings such as this was available, and they both automatically headed in that direction. The benches were surrounded by containers of tall plants, their leaves green and shiny in the overhead lighting and providing some semblance of privacy.

“Nice that our usual monster debating positions are available,” Cody said.

“Think they reserve them for us?” Demmy asked, and turned away to hide his smirk as Cody glared.

Before they reached the benches, Cody stopped at the sight of a figure coming toward them from the cafeteria. The woman was short and thin, with an unruly tangle of hair and plastic-framed glasses with oversized lenses. A neon green polo shirt she must have bought from the Big & Tall section hung to just above her knees, belted around her waist, with black tights underneath. A pair of Doc Marten boots appeared to be the only upgrade to her wardrobe, replacing her previous Crocs. But Cody saw they had been decorated with what appeared to be flying saucer decals.

“Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse,” he said.

“What?” Demmy stopped a few feet in front of him and looked in the same direction. “Oh, it’s Clarabell.”

“What if we pretend she’s a ghost and we can’t see her? Like the lucky husband on that TV show?”

“Stop,” Demmy said, then, like a traitor, smiled and waved. “Hi!”

Clarabell Remington, member of the UFO society—Unusual Fauna Observers—and a small, over-friendly, fiercely intelligent and determined woman who managed to annoy Cody on a minute-by-minute basis, approached. Her smile was big enough for her cheeks to push her glasses a bit up off her nose, and she carried a beverage holder with six coffees, the weight of which appeared to nearly be putting her off balance.

“Evening, gents,” Clarabell said, her voice scratchy enough to shatter glass. “The good doctor told me she’d invited you, so thought I’d get us all a little go-go juice.”

Dear God, the images that forced themselves into Cody’s mind when Clarabell said ‘go-go’. He took a coffee from the tray and couldn’t suppress the slight grimace. Which seemed to brighten Clarabell’s smile even more, dammit.

“I’ve heard you’re moving here to Parson’s Hollow,” Demmy said. He smiled after taking a sip of the coffee. “Hey, this is exactly how I like it. Thank you.”

“I pay attention to the little things.” Clarabell beamed up at Cody. “And the big ones. How’s it going, Stretch?”

“It’s going about as well as it ever is when the situation brings you around.” He sampled his coffee and hated that it was exactly as he would have prepared it himself. But he smiled and lifted the cup. “Thanks for this.”

“You’re welcome.” She turned back to Demmy. “There’s been a lot of weirdness going on in your town for a while. When I’ve visited before, I always liked the vibe of the place.”

“Monsters and weirdness?” Cody said. “That’s your vibe?”

“You know it, Stretch.”

“Don’t call me Stretch.”

Clarabell ignored him. “So, I decided to move here and do some more intense research.”

“How long of a lease did you sign?” Cody said, trying to sound grumpy even as he took another long drink of his perfect coffee.